Roots and Seeds
by syrraki
Summary: Life can carry you to places you never thought you'd end up. Sometimes you need to look back before you can move forward. NarutoxSasuke.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings:** language, suggestive content, a fair amount of violence, sickness, minor character death, (mild) abuse.  
**Genre: **drama, general, romance, humour.

**Main pairing: **NarutoxSasuke  
**Word Count:** 3,000/30,000

**Notes for this chapter:  
**_Asahi Shinbun _is a Japanese newspaper.  
_Shounen Jump _is a collection of manga published weekly in Japan. It's kind of like a comic. _Naruto _and _Bleach _are amongst the manga found there.  
_Ume onigiri _is a riceball with a pickled plum in the middle. It tastes sour.  
_Kanji_ are Japanese characters.

* * *

**Roots and Seeds**

Mist clung to the ground, swirling around the still-lit streetlamps as Sasuke started his car. The engine grumbled to life, breaking the silence that held over the motel carpark. There was little movement on the street as he pulled out; it was a quiet hour before dawn when anyone indulging in an all-nighter had already dragged themselves into the sweet comfort of their beds, and the rest of the world had not yet fully-awoken.

It was a forty minute drive that took him from the inner city, onto the motorway and then off, into a the suburbs of a smaller town. By the time he drove up the long pathway and saw the house open up in front of him, the sun had seeped over the horizon and inked the sky a burnt orange.

The key turning in the lock made him pause, - such a familiar, automatic action that put him in the minds of a hundred late evening homecomings. Dust couldn't cover the mix of washing powder, varnished wood and the faintest perfume that still lingered in the dark hallway. There never was enough light in there. That was the problem with these old, north-facing houses.

Ever-conscious of how long it had taken to get this far, Sasuke tried to imbue himself with purpose, hoping the focus might help the vague nausea that pressed up from his stomach, so he almost imagined he tasted bile at the back of his throat.

Flat packed cardboard boxes were retrieved from the boot of his car and he started in the kitchen. Pots and pans were okay. He'd never had much to do with them anyway. The film of dust that had settled on the once gleaming black counters - redone two years ago, all monochrome and straight lines - gave the room an air of a museum.

Opening the cutlery drawer was another trigger, like at the door. It surprised him that his body still remembered the exact pressure to flick the drawer open and he was already anticipating the sound of it rolling out on its tumblers and clicking into place. Academically, it was interesting, all these remembered motions. His body remembered, quite independently of his mind, and Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for him to forget these idiosyncrasies.

By lunchtime, the kitchen was gutted and five boxes were full; Sasuke had always prided himself on being a good packer. The cutlery was bound with rubberbands and put into stacks of mugs. The fridge was a lost cause and Sasuke was of a mind to throw it out, rather than tackle the biohazard inside. The magnets had been pulled off the freezer door and put in a black bag, along with the tea towels and expired cuppa soups. Sasuke had always hated those, anyway.

He mused, as he worked, that so many different lives could be packed away into boxes, and they would all look the same from the outside. He wondered if he could get a box big enough to pack himself into. Probably better not to. He might never get out.

His phone rang twice, but he ignored it. He was planning to spend another night at the motel and avoid his parents.

At lunchtime Sasuke drove out to a nearby garage and bought a prepacked sandwich. He ate it leaning against his car and watched the clouds pass overhead, trying to get some air before he drove back to the house.

The lounge and study were faster, because any seed of sentimentality that Sasuke had been nursing had been firmly crushed by the realisation that he couldn't bear to spend more than one day doing this. Four more boxes were filled, along with five black rubbish bags. By the time the sun started to inch towards the horizon, downstairs was done.

The bedrooms Sasuke managed through sheer will alone. Sweat beaded on his neck as he climbed the stairs and he reminded himself again and again that this was his responsibility. Finding his old clothes was like discovering old friends. The suit he'd worn for the interview that had got him promoted; the real leather belt he'd received for Christmas and worn every single work day, without fail; his favourite checked shirt that had lost a button and he had always intended to fix. Since leaving the house, Sasuke had bought new clothes out of necessity and had been living in a mismatched rotation of four outfits. Now, he boxed the things that he wanted to keep and the rest went into a charity bag, along with the linen and towels.

When all twenty boxes were lined up outside the house, like a line of presents if not for the black bags behind them, Sasuke allowed himself a break.

He went to the garden. He hadn't paid much attention to the garden when he lived there, but it was peaceful now, if more overgrown than he remembered. The sun was setting and the sky, which had been a wet grey for the majority of the day, was the clear blue that came just before nightfall. A few yellow leaves clung to the branches, making the trees look messy like a bad haircut, or a shave done while half asleep. Standing in the back garden of the house, so like the one he'd grown up in, Sasuke let himself breathe in the rare moment of perfect autumn, almost hidden between blustering winds, constant rain and the ever closer darkness.

The air was cold as he breathed it in, and smelt mossy; like dying things that would slowly decay and then eventually cycle back into living things.

It was all very well, Sasuke thought, as he locked the front door and started loading up the car without a pause, to think of life as a cycle. But what happened when you wanted to get off?

* * *

_Three Months Later_

"You look empty. Like a ghost," his mother said. "Talk to us. We want to help."

He felt like a ghost now, watching the crowds passing through the departure lounge. Different people, all headed to different places but temporarily held in waiting. All these people were so close together right now, but In four hours, would be hundreds of miles apart.

There might have been people in the world that could confide in their parents without a second thought, but Sasuke was not one of those people. "I'm just tired," he said. He didn't say more than that, because he didn't think his parents really wanted to know just how far his depression stretched.

"You haven't been this bad since Itachi..." His father was frowning, but there was compassion in his dark eyes. "It's been six months."

"I know. I'm trying."

A group of backpackers walked by, looking as though they were barely out of school. Their rucksacks were bulging and brand new and their faces looked fresh as they chatted in loud, absorbed tones. Sasuke leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees and pushed his palms against his eyes.

"It would be good for you. A change of scenery but something familiar. Even if at the time, we weren't... happy for you to go, it helped you."

"You can't go on like this, son. We're here for you but it'll be summer soon; you need to get it together..."

His parents might have had good intentions, but he felt sick. Maybe that had been their aim. What was the word his mother had used - empty? Was nausea an acceptable emotion? If he thought about it carefully, looked at those backpackers and remembered when he had sat in the same airport, just as naive and excited, the feeling was more something that could easily grow into hysteria. Maybe if he had a breakdown with crying and cursing, his mother would be happier.

As if she and his father were any more expressive. It was probably all genetic.

The flashing orange letters on the departure board finally told him he could go to his boarding gate. Maybe the plane would suffer a mid-air collision. Boarding proceeded at a snails' pace so it was surprising for Sasuke to realise somewhere along the line he had found his seat and buckled in. He had the window seat - an honour he had fought his brother for when they were children - and next to him was a single mother, fussing over a child that was busy drilling into a colouring book. If they did have a collision, Sasuke would make sure they had both put their oxygen masks on correctly before bothering with his own. His plan contradicted the instructions that the air hostess gave but he didn't care because he took two sleeping pills dry as soon as his luggage was stored and was asleep by the time she began the safety demonstration.

* * *

At some point during the flight Sasuke picked at a meal in a tray, a sort of pasta with meat he didn't recognise. At another point, he awoke with his face plastered to the window and an ache in his neck. He had to blink several times as his eyes adjusted to the weak floor lighting, only supplemented with the irregular glow of the personal televisions, before he realised where he was.

Despite being asleep for almost twelve hours previously, when the plane touched down and Sasuke was instructed to disembark, he felt an exhaustion that seemed to stretch to his bones. He'd told his parents he felt tired, and that was true enough, but now was a different sort of tiredness, that came with a different sort of emptiness.

Given his surroundings, it was impossible to ignore the fact that he had landed in an entirely different world. Adverts and information were all in a different language, different uniforms and dress styles were displayed, and even the air itself smelt different.

"_There's nothing like it, Sasuke_," Itachi's words from years before echoed in his mind. His tone had been of remembered excitement and conviction that he wanted Sasuke to experience the same. "_The feeling of new ground beneath your feet_."

He'd felt it, that same electrical buzz his brother had described the first time he'd stepped off the plane. Back then, he had taken it all in with relish and even now, a decade on, he couldn't say he was completely indifferent. He was still empty - switching continents wasn't enough, Still empty, but now lighter somehow.

The best way he could describe it, he thought as he grabbed his suitcase off the conveyer belt, was that something inside him had been pushed down for a long time with a weight on top of it, and now the weight had been removed and the lid was cracked open. He wasn't sure he would like what came out from there. He was sure he'd weighed it down for a reason.

Buying coach tickets and finding the correct bus stop was easy. Sasuke vividly remembered upon returning home after his trip, the only positive thing his mother had to say was: at least you're fluent now.

Both he and his brother had learned Japanese from a young age, and he'd managed to pass a GCSE in the language, but his grasp had only ever been perfunctory. His brother had come back from his own trip to Japan with his accent perfected and his vocabulary high enough to read any article in _Asahi Shinbun_ without even thinking about reaching for the dictionary. Sasuke had vowed that he would match his brother's standard of proficiency. Fortunately, his roommate on the farm, although a completely beginner, had been more than eager to learn Japanese. When he wasn't battling his way through _Shounen Jump_ he had been engaging every Japanese person they met in conversation, and Sasuke's own Japanese improved along the way.

As a result, the bubble of noise around him didn't bother him; it was unfamiliar but not jarring. The first time he'd landed in Tokyo he found the pulse of the city breathtaking. There was noise everywhere. Huge televisions screens stretched across buildings showed pop bands performing, recorded safety messages were accompanied by musical jingles and the call of welcome came from every shopfront.

It was nearly midnight by the time the bus arrived. The coach was a sleeper, equipped with reclining chairs and curtained windows. Sasuke, exhausted and sticky, regretting his decision to continue his journey straight away and not spend the night at a hotel where he could have at least had a shower.

He deliberated over whether or not to have another sleeping pill to ease through the twelve hour journey, but felt too tired already to rummage in his bag to find it. The coach lurched out of the station and as the lights dimmed, Sasuke decided he was probably still tired enough to sleep without medical intervention.

He didn't sleep well.

He didn't consider himself that dependent on sleeping pills, so perhaps it was a combination of stress, or jet lag, but the normal blackout that he was awarded at night eluded him, and instead, he dreamt.

First he dreamt that he was on the farm he had arrived at all those years ago. The same one that he was headed towards now. He dreamt that he was walking down the familiar path from the the gate, around the main house and to the bunkhouse. He had walked that path under the blazing summer sun, and in knee-high snow and everything inbetween. In the dream he was walking the path with his roommate, but when he turned to talk to him, he realised it was Itachi.

He and his brother talked a little. It was the version of Itachi before he got sick, and he was talking to Sasuke about the farm just like he used to. He kept pointing out his favourite things and how much Sasuke would like them, and couldn't seem to understand that Sasuke was right there.

Then Sasuke turned a corner to where the bunkhouse should be, but found himself standing in one of the paddy fields. In the distance he could see his parents, and his actual roommate, with Itachi nowhere in sight. His parents and his roommate were holding the reins of three wild horses that kept braying and stamping their hooves, trying to pull away. Sasuke tried to call out to them but they were too far away and no matter how hard he shouted, his words were carried away by the wind.

Sasuke awoke unsettled, and spent a few seconds wondering why. His eyelids were stuck together and his back felt sore from sleeping in one position for so long. He was hungry too and as the details came back to him, he remembered that his last meal was on the flight.

Belatedly, he also realised that the coach had stopped moving, which was probably why he had woken up. Around him the passengers were gathering their things and disembarking; the vague shapes resolved into human beings as they reached the light of the doorway. Sasuke'is legs felt unsteady after hours of disuse as he grabbed his bag and trailed after them

The coach station had a small adjoining shop and Sasuke ventured inside for something to eat. He stared at the humming refrigerated shelves before selecting an _ume onigiri_ and breaking a crisp 1000 yen note to pay for it. The cashier was a young girl, though it was hard to tell in a country where everyone looked twenty years younger than they were, and she bowed at him as he left, encouraging him to come again.

The _ume onigiri_ was eaten as he sat on the curb, waiting for the local bus. To either side of him the road stretched out, wide and empty although his now-adjusted watch told him it was midday. The _onigiri_ tasted just like he remembered: distinct from the ones his mother had given him as an after-school snack as a child, or the imitations he had bought once or twice in British supermarkets.

The bus rolled up at the exact time given on the timetable. Sasuke gave the driver a few coins and took the ticket, pulling his bag through the aisle with care. The bus was almost empty with only one seat taken by an old lady, sitting upright and fast asleep. Sasuke felt the side of his mouth twitch up as he walked past her to take his seat.

Idly, as he watched the once-familiar streets pass by, Sasuke realised that a few months ago he would have been consulting his schedule and checking his phone for messages. He couldn't find the motivation to do that sort of thing anymore, and in a place like this, he didn't need to. His parents had never been here. They had listened to Sasuke's stories with a vague interest and a growing impatience that taught him events that had realigned his life were of no interest to a third party. Whether or not they had known just what sleepy town they had returned him to, he fitted in here.

Sasuke couldn't tell whether or not the bus route had changed, but the majority of the scenery he passed through was familiar. He recognised the 7/11 where he and his roommate had ventured out to satisfy a late night melon bread craving and the entrance to a park he had spent one long afternoon in, trying to find the location of the perfect spot that his brother had told him about.

Houses in neat rows with stone walls surrounding them, small gardens full of assortments of pot plants and balconies strung with neat lines of washing. It was like stepping back in time.

Slowly, the farm came into view. It was isolated, amongst properties much larger than those found in the suburban nests near the town centre, and the entrance was down a path that tucked away from the road. Thanking the bus driver, he got off at the nearest stop and set off down the road, the wheels of his bag catching here and there on small pebbles. After the bus, no cars passed and he was left with a clear view. To his right was an uninterrupted expanse of rice paddies; barren following the winter but it must have rained earlier because he could see the glint of water between the rows. To his left was a stacked stone wall, occasionally broken up by driveways that led to other farms and houses. Behind that, mountains edged towards the sky, covered in patchy green and grey.

Mounted on the wall at the wooden gate entrance to the farm was a grey stone plaque with the family name written in black _kanji._ Sasuke traced the simple characters with one finger. It was a whimsical gesture that he had done as he left for the airport, ten years ago.

He pressed the doorbell.

He realised, as he sat watching clouds sail across the blue sky, that he should have anticipated he would have to wait.

* * *

**AN: **this story is basically complete and has twelve parts. I intend to update daily.

Edit 07/03: I put in the line breaks between scenes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Word Count:** 2,000/30,000

**Notes for this chapter:  
**_Tatami_ is a type of traditional flooring in Japan, using mats made from woven straw. They're typically used in traditional rooms.

* * *

**Roots and Seeds**

"It's been a long time, Sasuke."

Sasuke glanced up from where he sat on his bag and blinked as he stared directly into the sun. "You're late, Kakashi." He spoke without thinking, matching the man's Japanese automatically.

"You should have rung the bell."

"I did. About half an hour ago."

"It must be broken." With mismatched features, scars and utterly wild hair, it shouldn't have been possible for a man like Kakashi to cause such irritation with just a smile. "I'll look into having it fixed."

He led Sasuke through the open gate and up towards the main house. The path was lined with sakura trees just beginning to bloom. Their white petals were almost translucent in the sunlight and the scent of their pollen fragranced the air.. Back in England, though the hours of light were lengthening, dark and cold days still bled into darker and colder nights. Here, although the temperature remained low, it was a picture-perfect spring. The kind with blue skies and sunshine that belonged in travel brochures or postcards.

Kakashi's strides were relaxed. He wore casual clothes, dark trousers and a thin, hunter green sweater with sleeves rolled up to reveal arms toned from long hours working outside. There was also the hint of sleeve tattoos creeping up from below the elbow, suggesting a mysterious past that Sasuke and his roommate had debated for years.

"How have you been?" Kakashi asked as they turned and the house came into view. "You look taller. Taller than your brother."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He had forgotten just how easily Kakashi was able to irritate him. "I'm the same height that I was at eighteen."

"Mah, maybe I'm just getting shorter." Kakashi looked pensively at the sky.

Leaving his bag and shoes in the porch, Sasuke found himself kneeling on worn tatami and drinking green tea with Kakashi. He would have preferred a shower, and then to sleep for twelve hours, but couldn't deny that Kakashi made good tea. The cups were smooth and warm between his palms and the sharp, clean taste of the tea was refreshing. He had forgotten the woody smell of tatami flooring and it tugged at the edges of his memories, causing a feeling of nostalgia.

"I heard about your wife," Kakashi said. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke watched the ribbons of steam rise from his cup. "Thank you." He knew the words were flat, but it was as much as he could do to say them at all. He was relieved when Kakashi left the subject and he finished his tea quietly.

"You'll be staying in the bunkhouse like last time. I've had our programme coordinator see that you have the necessities."

"Programme coordinator, huh?"

Kakashi shrugged. "You have to move with the times. We get a lot of interest nowadays. Naive students wanting to find themselves." He seemed immune to Sasuke's glare. "They'll be coming in dribs and drabs."

"I'll go get settled then."

"It's funny that you're here now," Kakashi said, as Sasuke got up to leave.

"Funny?"

"Not funny, exactly. Perhaps fitting is a better word."

"What is that supposed to mean?" It was harder to find the right words now; his vocabulary always suffered when he was tired, but there had been a time when he could speak perfect Japanese in his sleep. "Speak more plainly."

"Just, that you've always had good timing."

"Your timing has always sucked," Sasuke said, brutally tired.

"But not when it counts," Kakashi said with a smile, before waving him off.

* * *

Sasuke didn't sleep for as long as he had expected. He felt refreshed when he woke, so it came as a surprise that the clock on the wall showed that only five hours had passed. Jet lag was a double-edged blade, he supposed, as he dragged himself up to look around.

In the time of Sasuke's last stay, the name 'bunkhouse' had been a misnomer. The wooden structure was a converted barn split into rooms with a narrow passageway between them. The bedroom had been simply a hangar-like room with Japanese style cupboards along one wall that housed futons, pillows and extra blankets. "Roommate" had been a casual way to describe the person who had shared that space with him for the longest time. Now, the room was smaller as it had been divided for males and females, with the tatami floors replaced by wood. The male half held three neat rows of bunkbeds, and although the room smelt dusty, the sheets were clean. At least, Sasuke noted, they had been until he had sprawled his disgusting self across them.

At the foot of his bed, his bag stood where he left it. He opened it and rummaged around until he found his toiletry bag which he grabbed, along with a change of clothes and the set of towels that had been laid over the headboard.

From across the hall he could see into the den which was the room lodgers spent most of their time in when they weren't working. As Kakashi hadn't mentioned anything, he assumed it hadn't changed, so left the bunkhouse and walked across to the single storey concrete structure opposite it.

The wooden door was warped with age and elements and It took a little persuading before it finally creaked open. Sasuke removed his shoes and slipped on a pair of the plastic bathroom slippers left there. Though empty and cold, he noticed that the bathroom was well-maintained as he shuffled across the plastic matting, to the walled off shower area.

The floor was a little dusty and the area for soaking was completely dry, but the tap readily opened to expel a torrent of cold water. Electricity shocked through his skin as it made contact with his body and he shuddered, breathing through to help himself adjust to the frigid temperature. On many winter mornings he had thought seriously about bypassing the shower, just to avoid the cold that never stopped being a shock.

He was freezing but clean as he dried himself and redressed. He was putting his shower gel away when there was a rap on the door.

"Uchiha? You in here?" Kakashi's voice echoed against the stone walls. "Phone call for you in the main house."

Sasuke acknowledged it and finished quickly before making his way back to the house. The old fashioned phone was balanced with the receiver off the hook, hanging over the dialer that attached to the wall.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke?"

"Hey, mum." Sasuke leaned against the kitchen doorway and getting comfortable.

"You sound well. How was your flight? Did Mr Hatake tell you that I called? I've been waiting for a long time. These international calls are expensive." Despite the distance, his mother's voice was clear, but the sound was convoluted somehow, as though she was speaking in a tunnel.

During the few minutes they spent chatting, Sasuke updated his mother on the flight and his situation, as much as there was to tell. He spent about thirty seconds talking to his father (they were both fine) and then was passed back to his mother for questions about what he was eating, which he thought prudent to fabricate answers to.

"You're doing okay then?"

"Yes, mum," Sasuke answered for what felt like the tenth time.

"I hope this will help you," her tone became worried. "I know it was sudden, but I just felt you needed a change."

"I know, you said." Sasuke adjusted the phone. "The international rates..."

With a last few worried pleasantries, Sasuke convinced his mother to hang up. As he set the receiver in its cradle, he noticed the cork noticeboard hanging from the wall next to it.

"I see your admiring our new schedule," Kakashi said as he entered the kitchen. "The programme coordinator made it."

"It's... interesting." The noticeboard was dominated by an A3 sheet of paper that held a one-year calendar. Some sort of colour code was used to divide the year, with notes in English and Japanese dotted around the border. Sasuke noted with distaste that a lot of the comments were in speech bubbles, next to badly drawn cartoons.

Kakashi approached him, tapping one of the squares with one finger. "Here's today. You arrived." He drew a line along and stopped a few days later. "Here's when our first batch of lodgers are supposed to arrive, so enjoy the privacy while you can. We'll have a little orientation when there are more people, but until then, most of the information's in the handbook. There's a copy in the den.

"If you're hungry, I've left some food in the fridge," Kakashi said as he drifted off to another part of the house.

He was hungry, so Sasuke checked the fridge and found the cold remains of a stir-fry that he took back to the den to eat, feeling weird to stand around in Kakashi's kitchen when the man himself had disappeared.

He had good memories of the den and as he sat down on of the squashy sofas, he felt more comfortable than he had in a long time. The entertainment centre had been improved to include a plasma screen television mounted on one wall, and the dining table was longer than the one Sasuke remembered. In one corner was a kitchenette where the lodgers could make hot drinks and snacks - Sasuke remembered his roommate always getting into arguments with people, claiming they had eaten the leftovers of whatever fast food he had brought back.

Along one wall group photographs from every year were mounted and after he finished the noodles, Sasuke took a look. He quickly found the one from his year, and then the photo from seven years earlier, with Itachi. His brother was smiling in the picture, looking straight at the camera. For three years, Itachi had kept a copy of that photograph on his bedside table, and afterwards, Sasuke had taken it for group was bigger in the photo of the year Sasuke stayed. He was standing next to his roommate who had slung an obnoxious arm around his neck, making a peace sign at the camera. Sasuke was smirking, stance relaxed.

Glancing over the newer photos adorning the wall, Sasuke saw the groups got bigger and bigger. No wonder Kakashi needed a coordinator.

Wedged between one of the cushions on the sofa, Sasuke found the handbook Kakashi had mentioned. The cover was laminated, although the overall effect was homemade. It detailed basic schedules, maps of the surrounding area and emergency contact numbers. It was illustrated by more of the poor-quality drawings from the noticeboard, portraying some sort of cartoon animal, though Sasuke couldn't work out what.

Sasuke watched the sunset from the window in the bedroom as he unpacked some of his things. There was a set of drawers at the foot of each bed and that was more than enough space to store what meagre possessions he had crammed inside his baggage allowance.

Only the light of a heavy moon lit the room by the time Sasuke was finished, having pushed his empty bag under the bunk. He changed into his sleepwear and lay on the bed, hoping to adjust to his new sleep pattern. The bed felt smaller than it used to, and he wondered if Kakashi had been right, and he had grown. Maybe he really was taller than Itachi had been.

In the darkness, he could barely make out the slats of the bunk above him but reached his hands out to touch them, running his fingers along the wood. The room was empty, but would be full in a few days, and Sasuke wasn't sure how he would deal with that. He wondered how long he was expected to stay. It was the end of March and he would have to be home at the very latest, by July.

Three months. He sighed, turning over and trying to make himself comfortable on the thin mattress, head pressed into a pillow that was somehow too hard but unsupportive at the same time. The unfamiliarity was enough to keep him alert, but eventually the past few nights of little sleep caught up with him.

He dreamt that he was eighteen and running through the fields in bright sunlight, laughing so hard that he couldn't catch his breath.

* * *

**AN: **thank you to everyone who read and commented yesterday. I really appreciate it. Next chapter, Naruto!

Edit 07/03, I put in lines for the scene breaks. I hope that makes reading easier.


	3. Chapter 3

**Word Count:** 2,000/30,000

**Notes ****for this chapter:**  
_Bento _is a Japanese lunch which can be made at home or bought in a supermarket.  
_Yakuza_are Japanese mobsters. They often have full body tattoos.  
_Hakone _is a place.

* * *

**Roots and Seeds**

Over the next few days, Sasuke settled into his new routine on the farm. By the third day he had recovered from his jetlag and was able to wake early enough to eat a cold breakfast with Kakashi in the kitchen. It was a quiet affair as Sasuke wasn't a morning person and Kakashi preferred to read his light novels with one hand and hold his chopsticks in the other. The majority of the day he spent exploring the farm and rediscovering the neighbourhood. He spent a whole afternoon following the path of the river that passed by the back of the farm. Just a few weeks after the winter snow had melted, the river was swollen and the waters flowed swiftly, reflecting the blue sky. Another day he explored the park, buying a cheap _bento_ and eating it on a bench, watching the local kids run around after a football.

The amount of memories that he triggered daily surprised him. After returning home, his memories had been filed away and only the ones most commonly recalled remained clear. The farm was based in_ Niigata_ Prefecture, in the north of Japan, and experienced heavy snowfall , so whenever he talked about it, an image of the river when it had iced over easily came to mind. Memories that had strong emotional links were also easy to recall, such as the time he got the high score on the guitar hero game at the mall, and his roommate hadn't spoken to him for two whole days. However, over time even these memories had been whittled down until only isolated details remained. Returned to the setting, Sasuke found his brain had been cherishing a whole host of memories that had just been waiting for the right stimulus to flood back to the forefront of his mind. Whole days were spent sorting through his memories, following them through and rediscovering parts of himself that he had forgotten about.

The evenings were cold and the road to the farm poorly lit, so Sasuke usually returned home just before nightfall. Dinner was similar, if not identical to breakfast, in both content and company, and then he spent a few hours in the den before bed. The den had changed the most since Sasuke had last seen it, and it was mostly due to addition of signs, guest books and instructions, all courtesy of the programme coordinator, if the handwriting and cartoons were anything to go by.

"This guy you've hired," Sasuke said one evening, interrupting the ticking of the clock as they ate dinner. "Where is he?"

"I sent him to _Yokohama_ to get a part for the tractor," Kakashi said, not looking up from his book. He was somehow still able to eat without spilling a drop. "He left the morning you got here, but he'll be back in a few days."

That explained why Sasuke hadn't seen the guy, although he could do without seeing those stupidly annotated notes absolutely everywhere.

One good addition to the den was the study section which held a desk and a small bookcase with several well-leafed Japanese textbooks and some simple _mangas_. Sasuke spent a few evenings brushing up on his _kanji _which had fallen by the wayside in recent years, and then watched Japanese news (anything else was incomprehensible to him) until he felt tired enough to sleep.

On the fourth day, his mother called a few minutes before dinner.

"She wants to know what the progress is," he said to Kakashi after swallowing a mouthful of fish. "What does that mean? Progress? Am I supposed to be recovering from a broken bone?"

Kakashi said nothing, which was part of the reason Sasuke found it easy to talk to him. It was very similar to talking to himself, but without presenting one of the symptoms of insanity.

"I'm in a different place, doing different things, but what exactly is it supposed to accomplish?" Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead. "And I'm going to have to call Asuna soon."

A scratching noise interrupted him and he paused, frowning at Kakashi. "What's that?" It sounded like something sharp scraping against paper. As they listened, Sasuke heard it again.

"It's probably just Rin," Kakashi said. He carried on eating his food, holding his chopsticks deftly between his fingers.

"Rin?" Sasuke frowned, hesitating before continuing. "You mean your ex-wife?"

"Nope, I also called my cat Rin." Kakashi beamed at Sasuke, eyes crinkled. It was the kind of incongruous smile that made Sasuke really wonder if he had been in the _Yakuza_ and that smile was the last thing some people ever saw. "She must have smelt the fish."

"I didn't know you had a cat."

"She's more a stray that sometimes comes here for food. She's probably sitting in the porch, scratching at the door and trying to get it." Kakashi smiled at Sasuke again. "It would be really nice if someone let her in."

Since Kakashi didn't make any move to be that person, Sasuke stood up and left the table. The hallway was cluttered and the bulb had blown, making it even harder to navigate than usual. He stepped down into the genkan just as he heard footsteps on the other side of the screen door.

"Hey there. Kakashi didn't let you in?" Sasuke heard the mew of a cat and then a deep chuckle. "Poor thing."

The screen door was pulled back and Sasuke blinked at the person standing in the porch, cradling a small tabby cat over his shoulder. What caught Sasuke's attention first, was that he wasn't Japanese, and then, thought process jamming, he took in the tall built, the pack slung over his shoulder, the wide blue eyes and messy blond hair.

"Naruto?"

Sensing a lack of movement, Rin wiggled out of Naruto's lax grip and dropped soundlessly to the floor, before disappearing into the dark of the hallway.

* * *

The feeling was not so different from the first time they'd met, when Sasuke was eighteen.

Sasuke had spent the first few nights alone in _Niigata_. He was the first of the lodgers to arrive, as well as one of the few who would stay throughout the year. The room in the converted barn was large, as if intended for something else and recast at the last moment. The kerosene heater in the corner had given only a few hours of addictive heat before sputtering off. Without it, any vestigial heat had dissipated in the vast room and the temperature had dropped so that his face stayed cold, regardless of the blankets he piled onto his futon.

The heavy blanket he had heaved onto his bed almost pinned him down, and the floor was hard beneath the thin futon, bruising into his shoulders. He thought about his brother and tried to imagine him in the same place. In Itachi's stories he had never mentioned feeling stranded or lost like Sasuke did now.

A noise pulled him out of his thoughts and he glanced around the room. His eyes were fully adjusted to see in the dull light that passed in through a high window but there was no activity, so he discarded it as something outside. When he next heard the drag of the heavy oak door being pulled back, he sat up, letting the covers fall around him. His body was tense but he calmed as he awoke properly and realised it must be one of the new lodgers.

Sasuke heard footsteps on the wooden floor of the hallway, and then the door to the bunkroom rolled back. The figure paused in the doorway a moment, then reached out, patting the wall beside the doorframe.

"The electricity doesn't work," Sasuke said, voice raspy from sleep, and making the person freeze. He cleared his throat. "Mr Hatake says he'll fix it by the end of the week."

"Oh." The figure shifted and stepped inside, becoming clearer as he got closer. "I guess it doesn't matter, I have awesome night vision by now. I caught the later train and there are no streetlights for miles. I didn't even have a torch." The voice was male and he spoke English naturally. His accent was hard to place, but it sounded American. "I must have tripped over a billion times just getting up to the main house." He took a few steps over to where Sasuke sat and dropped a bulging rucksack onto the floor. "I'm Naruto, by the way."

"I'm Sasuke. Welcome, I guess."

"_Please treat me well,_" Naruto said, clumsily quoting a common Japanese greeting. "Is there a bathroom? I could do with a wash."

Sasuke gave Naruto directions to the shower block and when he returned, complaining about the cold water, helped him make his futon.

"I'm beat," Naruto said as he flopped onto his futon, shaking around his pillow and trying to make it more comfortable. "Thanks for helping me out though." He looked across to Sasuke who had got back into his bed.

"Don't worry about it. I hope you'll be able to sleep with the jet lag."

"I can sleep anywhere, any time," Naruto boasted. It seemed he was telling the truth, for minutes after they said goodnight, Sasuke heard soft, even breathing coming from the other futon and the occasional gentle snores. His own eyes were already drooping, and he fell asleep quickly. His last thought was that he and Naruto were floating on a raft in the ocean, and it didn't feel lonely at all.

* * *

"I forgot you two would know each other." Kakashi smiled at the two of them, lifting a piece of fish with his chopsticks and feeding it to Rin who mewed, her front two paws on Kakashi's folded legs.

They were sitting at the table in the kitchen, Naruto looking at Sasuke in bewilderment and Sasuke glaring at Kakashi.

"How could you forget?" Sasuke asked, irritated at how much happiness Kakashi seemed to be getting out of the situation.

"Yes I wonder," Kakashi said slowly, "after all, you were together all the time." He petted Rin absently. "And Naruto is always talking about you."

"I am not," Naruto snapped, jolting out of his dazed state with a scowl. The way his eyebrows lowered and his lip jutted out was so reminiscent of the times he would scowl at Sasuke that it made him pause to think. From what Sasuke had seen, Naruto looked the same as he had back then, if a little broader and somewhat more mature, but some of his mannerisms were different. He seemed calmer, though from the way he was fidgeting Sasuke assumed he still had a lot of energy

"You have a bag; are you lodging here?" Sasuke pointed to the pack that Naruto had carried, now sitting on the floor next to them. Naruto looked at the bag himself, as though puzzled, and then his expression cleared.

"Oh, no! I just went on a trip for Kakashi, he wanted me to get some tractor part from_ Yokohama_." He turned to Kakashi. "Hey, why did you send me there! That guy said he sells everything online! This is the twenty-first century, you know!"

"Modern technology, it all goes over my head..."

"You're the project coordinator," Sasuke interrupted. "Kakashi hired you?"

"Yeah, he's too lazy to get the most out of this place on his own, and I'd always been happy here." Naruto gave Sasuke a tentative smile. "But I didn't know you were going to be here." He turned back to Kakashi. "I mean really, you could have sent a text or something."

"Modern technology..."

"And yet you have no problem working out how to order on pay-per-view."

"I'm going to bed." Sasuke mumbled a platitude about the meal and left.

His mind reeled as he got ready to sleep. If coming to Japan was like cracking open the lid of a box, seeing Naruto was like tipping it upside down and shaking it. Although he had lost touch with Naruto after a few years, he remembered that at the time, they had been close. It had only been a few months after Itachi died and Sasuke had been reeling from the loss. Almost every single memory he had of his time in Japan featured Naruto in some way, whether it was the time the shower block had flooded and they'd had to wade through knee-high waters to find the leak, or the time Naruto had called him in the middle of the night because he was stranded in _Hakone_ and needed the telephone number of a taxi company.

Sasuke changed into his sleepwear and took his toothbrush and toothpaste to the showerblock. On the way back he nearly jumped as he felt something brush against his ankle, but then his eyes adjusted to the moonlight and he saw the gleam of cat eyes and Rin's tortoiseshell coat.

"Kakashi ran out of fish, hmm?" Sasuke crouched down and scratched her behind her ear, amused when she butted her head into his hand.

"Sasuke?"

His scratching must have turned rough because Rin hissed and skipped to the side. Sasuke straightened to see Naruto standing across from him. Under the night sky, the differences were harder to see; Sasuke could almost believe no time had passed.

"Um, are you okay?" Naruto scratched behind his head and Sasuke felt something inside him pull at the familiar gesture. "You sort of left in a hurry. I thought we could... catch up."

"I'm tired." Sasuke tried to keep his tone neutral. He thought it ironic that when they'd met as complete strangers in an unfamiliar setting, they had felt so at ease with each other but now their interaction felt forced. He cleared his throat. "The jet lag, you know?"

"Aah, right. I remember." Naruto opened his mouth and then closed it. "Was everything okay? I mean, in the bunkhouse and the shower block and stuff? I was supposed to organise it but then I had to rush off and I wasn't sure if I'd forgotten something. Not that Kakashi told me, that it was you." He pursed his lips, then looked directly at Sasuke. "I didn't know it was you."

"It's all fine," Sasuke said. Then as an afterthought: "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Naruto seemed disoriented. "Tell me, if you need anything."

"You don't stay in the bunkhouse?" The atmosphere had become stilted and heavy, Sasuke wanted to change the subject.

"No," Naruto shook his head slowly. "I'm in the main house with Kakashi." He shrugged. "You're probably better off than me. I've never got used to sleeping on a futon."

"I remember," Sasuke said without thinking. Naruto blinked at him in surprise and Sasuke exhaled harshly. "I'll see you. Night." He turned and walked back towards the bunkhouse.

"Sasuke!"

Pausing, Sasuke turned back. Naruto was standing in the same place as before. "What?"

"The new lodgers are coming tomorrow, I'm going to pick them up from the station. Do...do you want to come too? We could talk a bit?"

"Yeah, okay." Talking sounded reasonable.

"Great." Naruto smiled at him, showing teeth. "I'll swing by around ten. And Sasuke? It's really good to see you." Without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked back to the house, boots scraping over the gravel.

That night Sasuke dreamt of his brother. He awoke in the small hours of morning, gasping into the empty air, the sudden reminder of his loss aching deep in his chest. The room with its vacant beds offered no comfort and he shivered, pulling the covers up to his chest. The feeling passed suddenly and It was only a few seconds later that his body grew heavy and he dropped back to the mattress. He slept deeply after that, and in the morning had no recollection of waking.

* * *

**AN: **I'd forgotten that this site eats up the asterisks that I use for scene breaks. I'll fix the previous chapters, sorry about that. Thank you to everyone that reviewed. I hope you'll keep reading.


	4. Chapter 4

**For this chapter:**  
_Umeboshi _is pickled plums. In this chapter they are used as filling in riceballs. They are sour.  
_Melon pan_is bread with a 'melon' filling.  
_Melon pop _is amazing and delicious and my life is empty without it.  
_Enka _is a label for music which resembles traditional Japanese music.

* * *

**Roots and Seeds**

Naruto picked Sasuke up the next morning and led him around to the front of the farm where a minibus was parked in front of the open gates.

"I borrow it from the local school. We have an agreement," Naruto said as they climbed aboard. He got into the driving seat and started the engine while Sasuke settled in the foremost passenger seat. "Did you sleep well?"

"Fine," Sasuke said. "How many people are we expecting?"

"Ten? Or eleven? I can't remember." Naruto pulled the bus out onto the road easily and took one hand off the large steering wheel to pull a folded piece of paper from his pocket which he passed to Sasuke. "It's on that."

The paper had a list of names and their travel information with annotations scrawled at the side in handwriting that Sasuke recognised.

"You're taking your job seriously," he remarked.

Naruto took his eyes off the road to glance at him, mouth quirked quizzically. "Yeah?"

"All the signs in the den, and the handbook. Laminated."

"Oh, that stuff." Naruto smiled and shrugged. "Just thought it'd be helpful. You know Kakashi's never gonna get it together." He swung the bus around a corner, pulling the steering wheel around and then back, then glanced at Sasuke, licking his lips. "I actually had tonnes of ideas about what I could do while we were here. I mean, we basically had no idea what we were doing half the time; remember when the shower block flooded and we had to fix it because we didn't know how to call for a plumber? I figured, people should learn from our mistakes."

The station came into view and Naruto steered the bus into a parking, then killed the engine. "If you think of anything else that might be helpful, let me know," Naruto said as they descended from the bus. "You always had a good memory."

"I doubt anything will come to mind," Sasuke said. They leaned, side-by-side, against the bus, feeling the warm engine against their backs as a pleasant comparison to the chilly morning air. "It was a while ago."

"I guess." Naruto frowned at the tarmac ground, then brightened. "You must have done a lot in the last..." he paused, lips moving as he thought, "whoa, it's been ten years? Man, I'm so old..."

"And yet you still act exactly the same."

Naruto bristled at the comment. "Oh yeah? Well so are you. Still a jerk for no reason."

The slow forming grin that had appeared on Sasuke's face cut off abruptly. Naruto's words reminded him that he _hadn't_ been a jerk for no reason when they first met. He'd been grieving his brother and trying to sort his life out; not so different from now.

"So?" Naruto was looking at him, head slightly tilted in his direction. "What have you been doing?"

"Not much," said Sasuke, ignoring the stab of guilt and looking across the carpark to a coach pulling into the entrance. "Isn't this one of ours?"

As the passengers from the coach started to dismount, Naruto snagged a sign from the bus that read 'Hatake' in English and Japanese, and walked over with Sasuke trailing behind. The majority of the passengers were Japanese - no doubt locals - that quickly dispersed. In the last few travellers Sasuke recognised the bleary-eyed look of a foreigner who hadn't grasped the ability to sleep on a night bus as well as the Japanese did.

"Hey, hey, guys look over there!" One of them noticed Naruto's sign and gestured to his friends who made their way over.

There were nine of them and they looked to be typical student backpacker types. While Naruto ticked them off on the sheet, they were joined by a middle-aged woman, who had arrived by train and stood to the side, quietly watching the procedure. What Sasuke noticed most of all, was the fact that she was noticeably pregnant. He assumed that she couldn't be too far along as her shape was modest and she wouldn't have been able to travel, but he had to wonder how much work she could hope to do on a farm in that state. A few moments later she was joined by a younger man who whispered something in her ear and then handed her a pre-packed _melon-pan_.

"Okay, I think we're looking for one more," Naruto said, raising his voice above the babble of noise.

"I'm here, I'm here!" A teenager, lanky with dark hair ran up to them, pack bouncing on his back. He leaned over, bracing his hands on his knees while he caught his breath.

"Alright then, looks like everyone." Naruto gestured to the bus. "Let's go!"

* * *

An hour was allocated for getting settled, and then the lodgers were assembled in the den. They looked to be a mixed group with the students sprawled over the sofas and beanbags, while the others had sat at the table. Sasuke himself was leaning against the wall, watching as Naruto sorted out some papers at the front. He noticed that the teenager who had been the last to arrive, was trying to make a conversation with the pregnant lady and getting glared at by her companion, while one of the students with red hair was violently squabbling with a boy from the same group.

"Okay, listen up you guys." Naruto seemed to have sorted himself out and laid the papers he'd been holding on the desk. "This is your orientation, so try to pay attention. If you forget anything, you can always ask me and most of the information is either in the documentation here," he pointed to the desk, "which you can pick up at the end, or in the handbook which is around here somewhere."

"Let's start off with introductions. I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm the coordinator here. You'll meet the owner, Kakashi, later on, but for most things, I'm your go-to guy."

One by one, they introduced themselves. Sasuke didn't manage to catch many of the students' names, but he learned that many of them were related through extended family and lived in Europe. The pregnant lady was called Kurenai and she and her friend - who turned out to be her nephew - were from China. The boy who'd arrived last was called Inari and from the Philippines. As Sasuke had suspected, he was only sixteen years old.

"Sasuke's been here before, so he'll be sure to help you guys out," Naruto decided to add after Sasuke's own introduction which he had limited to name and nationality. Sasuke wasn't sure if Naruto had forgotten how to read him, but he thought it was more likely that his glare was being wilfully misinterpreted as Naruto winked at him.

"I'll give you a short tour in a minute, but you'll be sleeping in the bunkhouse and eating in here. Typically, you'll be working on the farm in the morning, and in the afternoon there are optional Japanese classes. You have to make up an average of fifteen hours of work a week and information on how to log the hours is in the handbook."

While Naruto handed out some papers with emergency contact details and a few maps, Sasuke heard someone call his name and noticed Kakashi in the hallway, gesturing for him to come out.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, slipping out of the den.

"Didn't you want to make a phonecall?"

Nodding, Sasuke followed Kakashi through the narrow hallway, leaving behind the sound of Naruto's boisterous introduction.

"Don't worry about him," Kakashi said, sensing his disgruntlement as they left the bunkhouse. "He's just trying to help you fit in. He probably thinks he's helping you to get to know the new arrivals."

"I don't need to get to know them," Sasuke said, walking with Kakashi down the tree lined path to the main house. "Unlike some people, I don't feel the need to make a meaningful connection with every single person I lay eyes on."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows so they disappeared under his mop of grey hair. "You've travelled before, Sasuke. Surely you know that the best part of travelling is the people you meet?"

"That was before," Sasuke said, slipping his shoes off and following Kakashi in through the screen door. "I'm not here to meet people." He glared at Kakashi's back, resenting his casual facade. "Besides, it's not like you introduced yourself."

"But I will later," Kakashi said. He pointed to the phone before walking away. "Don't talk for too long, you know how expensive these international calls are."

* * *

When Sasuke returned to the bunkhouse, Naruto had disappeared but the lodgers were making themselves at home. The bunkroom, in a stark contrast to what he had been growing accustomed to, was packed. There were clothes slung over the bedframes, bags cluttering the floor and people chattering everywhere. The segregation wasn't working very well. Sasuke could see the arguing couple kissing against the bed opposite him, while on the other side of the room one of the female students had a guy from the same group in a headlock. He couldn't remember the girl's name, but he remembered the guy with the pale hair was called Kimimaro.

Taking in the chaos, Sasuke headed towards the den where it was quieter. He grabbed the _manga_ he'd been reading earlier and settled on a sofa. He made a mental note to invest in some earplugs.

"Excuse me." A quiet voice caused Sasuke break away from trying to remember a tricky _kanji_ and he pulled out his earbuds. He hadn't realised that anyone else had sat down. "It was 'Sasuke', wasn't it?"

"Yes," Sasuke put down the book, finger keeping the page as he appraised the man talking to him. "That's me."

"I'm Juugo," the man gave a small smile that appeared out of place on his broad, sober features. "I took the upper bunk of your bed. I hope that's okay; the others were taken."

"That's fine," Sasuke said, pleasantly surprised. "I realised it would be a tight fit."

"Hopefully the weather will stay fine so we can spend more time outside, instead of cooped up," Juugo said. He had a slow, careful way of speaking, as though he was weighing up every word.

Sasuke agreed and had just gone back to his manga when he felt a warm weight drop on his shoulder. "Sasuke!"

Shrugged Naruto off, he turned in his seat. "What?"

"So grumpy." Naruto leaned over the back of the sofa and wrestled the _manga_ out of his hands, flipping the cover so he could check. "No wonder! You're reading this!" He dropped the book back and addressed Juugo who was watching the exchange, a little smile on his face. "You know, this is his favourite series ever."

Having picked the _manga_ up at random, Sasuke scrutinised the cover and realised that Naruto was right. It had been a favourite of his. He remembered that as a teenager he used to keep up with the weekly updates and had spent many afternoons raving about plot twists in Itachi's bedroom while his brother studied. He had, tried to convince his brother to read it too, instead of the political mangas that Itachi read and Sasuke couldn't make anything of.

"...and he used to fight me for the_ Shounen Jump_ so that he could read it first. This one time he actually clawed at my wrist to get it and it bled and everything."

"I did not," Sasuke said, cutting him off when he noticed Juugo looking like he was trying not to laugh. "I didn't. What are you here for, anyway?"

"I told everyone to meet here," Naruto said, jumping over the back of the sofa and landing between Sasuke and Juugo with a whump.

"Why? Another meeting?"

"No, we're going out." Naruto gave him a childish glare, lips pulled down. "You'd know if you'd have stuck around for the end of orientation. How are you going to get by now? You're not orientated!"

"Where are we going?"

"To fight jet lag, develop bonds and have a typical Japanese experience." Naruto grinned at Sasuke's expression. "Karaoke, of course."

* * *

The karaoke place was a new establishment in the centre of_ Niigata_ City. Naruto ferried them there in the minibus and then they took a lift to get from street level to the third storey. Even in a small town like this, Sasuke noted, everything went up.

Their room was small with sofas lining the walls around a table, all facing a plasma screen. The group had managed to fit in but Sasuke thought it was fortunate Kurenai and her nephew had declined to come.

"I know it's tiny," Naruto said as they squeezed inside and settled down, "but Kakashi is the one that does the budget for all our outings and he's a cheapskate. Any more than this and the rest of our activities will be busking on the streets." He smiled and added, "the good news is that it's 'all you can drink'!"

The pop songs that the group chose did nothing for Sasuke and he would have felt claustrophobic had he not been shoved next to Juugo, who was sipping from a green tea and looking similarly uncomfortable. Two of the students seemed to be his friends in particular - Sasuke recognised them as the couple that were arguing before orientation - and they kept nagging Juugo to join in.

"Don't just sulk in the corner," the girl said, pulling on his arm and trying to get him to stand. "You're missing out on all the fun."

"I am having fun," Juugo said lightly. "You know I'm not that into karaoke, Karin."

"But it's a..." Karin fumbled, taking a slurp of the colourful drink she had ordered. "It's a genuine Japanese experience. Do a trio with me and Suigestu."

"We'll do that one with the _Enka_-y bit in the middle," the guy that Sasuke surmised was Suigestu joined in and with a groan, Juugo stood, taking a mic with little enthusiasm, but a smile.

The three of them started a catchy pop song with an impromptu dance element that Karin introduced by grabbing Suigetsu and leading him in a very tight tango at the front of the room, leaving Juugo to carry the melody.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Sasuke found himself in a sudden sprawl of arms and legs and then Naruto slid himself across and into Juugo's vacated space. He stared at the unexpected invasion of his space and Naruto beamed. "You looked lonely, so I thought I'd come over." He leaned close to be heard over the music. "I notice you haven't graced us with a solo yet."

"I don't sing."

"That's not what my memory says," Naruto teased.

"Maybe your mind is playing tricks on you," Sasuke tried. "Are you drunk?"

"Nope! As your designated driver, you can be sure this is all natural." Naruto lifted his drink to show Sasuke that it was full of a luminous green fizzy drink. "Well, you know, with a lot of sugar and some E-numbers."

"What the hell is that?" Sasuke winced as the glass came closer to him.

"You don't want to try?" Naruto pouted and took a sip himself. "This is melon pop and it is amazing. You know they don't sell it anywhere else in the world? You can't even import it. And here they just take it for granted! But not me. I see the value. And so I drink it _all the time_."

"It shows." Sasuke leaned away from the wild gestures Naruto made to illustrate just how good melon pop was.

"Are you making fun of me? You clearly haven't tried melon pop, or you'd know that I am a genius and it is the drink of geniuses and also of the gods." Naruto's spiel came to a sudden halt as the song changed and he jumped up, abandoning his drink on the table. "Who put this on? Give me a mic! I _need _to sing this."

As Naruto clambered to the front, Sasuke recognised the opening of a popular anime show, one that Naruto had always been fond of. It was a favourite apparently, as most people jumped to their feet, clustered around the microphones.

"Alright, who knows the dance routine?" There was a whoop and Sasuke saw Karin and Suigetsu jump up next to Naruto and start dancing in messy syncronisation with him, to a raucous applause. Noticing that Naruto was preoccupied, Sasuke picked up the abandoned melon pop and took a sip. The over sugared, chemical taste was enough to make him wince. He put the cup back down and pretended he couldn't see Naruto laughing at him.

* * *

"_Thank you for using our establishment. We hope to see you again_."

Sasuke watched as Naruto spoke to the young hostess and gave her a short bow before they headed out. The rest of the group had already boarded the minibus and the buzz from the karaoke was leaving them. Night had fallen and as they left the busier streets and got out onto the country roads, the bus grew silent. A few people started to yawn as jet lag took hold now they were away from any distractions, and Karin rested her head against Suigetsu's shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Looks like my plan worked," Naruto whispered as he turned on the heating in the minibus, pointing at the glowing digital clock. "It's ten pm. They'll be adjusted in no time. Take that, jet lag." He glanced at Sasuke who sat in the foremost passenger seat. "How about you? Tired?"

"Not really."

"Good, you shouldn't be. You hardly sang anything."

"In that case, you should be exhausted. I don't think you let go of the mic the entire night," Sasuke said, smiling.

Naruto snorted. "I didn't come here to sleep - "

"You came here to live," Sasuke said, finishing the trite phrase without thinking. He realised what he had done and looked away from Naruto who was staring, lips parted in surprise, to lean his head against the window. For a few seconds he watched the broken white line pass by and then looked above, at where the telephone masts looked skeletal and alien against a star-filled sky.

"I didn't think you'd remember that," Naruto said quietly. "Even though I used to say it all the time."

Sasuke didn't answer; he closed his eyes and pretended that he'd fallen asleep.

* * *

A gong that Sasuke did _not_ remember from his time at the lodge woke Sasuke, and he sat up in bed feeling startled as he tried to locate the source of the sound.

"Good morning, campers! It's seven thirty AM, I gave you a lie-in because I'm just kind like that. Breakfast is served in the den in fifteen minutes and you're expected to be dressed, fed and outside by eight." A voice that Sasuke did remember came from the open doorway and Sasuke recognised Naruto's grinning face. "For those of you that have hangovers, Sasuke's got some painkillers." He tossed the box to Sasuke so fast that he barely had time to catch it. "_Ja ne._"

"Why doesn't he have a hangover?" Suigestu asked, dropping down from the bunk next to Sasuke and taking the box from his limp fingers. "He still seems drunk." He swallowed the pill dry before passing it to his bunkmate.

"That's all natural," Sasuke said dully, dragging himself to the edge of the bed and wincing as his feet made contact with the cold floor. Through the wall, he could hear Naruto's muffled voice as he cheerily woke the girls.

"Bloody hell," Suigetsu said, covering his face with his hands.

Sounds about right, thought Sasuke.

Breakfast was rice, eggs, miso soup and silence interspersed with groans. Sasuke was relieved to find the group was quiet in the mornings, and more so when hungover. There had been mornings in the past where Sasuke felt the only way he could go on was if he strangled Naruto and brought an end to his unnecessarily upbeat ways.

When they were dressed appropriately for the weather with coats and boots (matched with denim hotpants, in Karin's case) they congregated outside. It was a brisk morning with a blue sky that stretched across the horizon, brushed at the bottom with the greens and browns of nearby mountains. Sasuke was always overwhelmed by how much open space there was in the Japanese countryside - being able to look so far made him feel that the entire country was flat. His attention was drawn back to the group by the sound of Suigetsu and Karin squabbling - apparently they didn't get on as well without the influence of alcohol. The rest of the group was talking amongst themselves but it died down as Kakashi strode out and stopped in front of them. Behind him, Naruto gave the group a smile and made a face at Sasuke, who looked away

"Good morning everyone, I'm glad to see you all looking so refreshed and already enjoying our beautiful Japanese countryside," Kakashi said.

Sasuke had gathered that the group was predominantly English-speaking and assumed that was why they had chosen Kakashi's place, as he was marginally fluent. Kakashi spoke at a slower pace than was necessary in order to show off his impressive English vocabulary which on many occasions had proved superior to Naruto's.

"As part of your stay, you will learn the value of living off the land, cultivating your own fresh produce and abandoning the consumerist, toxin-ridden, fast-paced city lives that you are so used to." Kakashi beamed at the group, the tight wrinkles at the corner of his eyes bunching up. "And we will start with weeding!"

Sasuke nearly laughed at he saw several eager faces drop on the last word. It seemed that after all these years, killing the lodgers' spirits was still a standard part of Kakashi's introductory speech. Naruto gave him a conspiratorial grin.

They were divided into groups and chose from a selection of tools that would help them ready the soil for planting. Suigetsu grabbed a scythe immediately, using it to do a few sweeps and making his own sound effects. "Fucking yeah, this is awesome."

"Is that safe?" Kurenai asked, surprising Sasuke who hadn't realised she was standing right next to him. A moment later Naruto grabbed another scythe and engaged Suigetsu in a mock battle.

"Probably not," Sasuke said, grabbed a hoe and moving down the trail between fields, to where the group had started work.

Although it had been years, Sasuke's body remembered the motion. While Inari was hacking at the ground and Shikamaru seemed to be brushing over it with no force whatsoever, he soon found an easy, effective rhythm. At home Sasuke hadn't had any interest in gardening, but he'd enjoyed working on the farm. There was something in the menial labour and repetitive motion was immensely satisfying. Maybe it was the setting, but as he felt sweat start to cool on his skin, Sasuke was sure he had never found his bi-weekly trips to the gym as pleasant.

If there was any drawbacks of this kind of work, Sasuke thought as he leaned on his hoe, pausing for a few moments to wipe his hair from his sweaty forehead, it was that it was slow going. At least forty minutes had passed from when he began, and the area that he had cleared was insignificant. He was only placated when he noticed that Inari was sitting and having a drink with his t-shirt plastered to his thin frame, while Shikamaru didn't seem to have made any progress at all.

"Slacking off, Uchiha?"

"I could say the same for you," Sasuke said, turning to see Naruto standing with his hands in his pockets. "Don't you have things to coordinate?"

"And waste a beautiful day like this stuck inside? Nah. I'll do the paperwork when its raining." Naruto rocked on his heels, gazing across the field.

"You'd probably be out splashing in puddles," Sasuke muttered, turning back to the patch of land he had been clearing and noticing that it looked smaller than ever, yet his shoulder and back muscles were already protesting.

"Probably," Naruto said, looking oddly smug. "Anyway, I'm checking on you all and seeing that you're okay."

"No one's been stabbed by a scythe yet, if that's what you mean," Sasuke said. "But hang around. That could easily change."

"You're crabby." Naruto smiled wider than ever, cocking an eyebrow. "Back hurting? You're kind of old now."

"You're six months older than me, moron." Sasuke kept his eye on the bottom of the now muddy hoe. "And I'm fine."

Naruto hummed. "Look, your friend's coming over."

Sasuke looked up to see Juugo plodding down the trail, holding a tiller in a gloved hand. He nodded at Naruto before taking up a stance next to Sasuke, on the ground he had already cleared. "Suigetsu and Karin are arguing."

"Do they do that a lot?" Naruto wondered out loud, as the three of them looked across to where Karin was being physically restrained from going at Suigetsu's head with a spade.

"A lot."

Naruto disappeared after that, but at eleven he returned and called a break, filling up bottles of water and handing out riceballs.

"_Umeboshi_ for you, Sasuke," he said, dropping it into Sasuke's hand. As Naruto moved on to Juugo, Sasuke noticed that the riceball was still warm and entirely homemade. "Everyone, lunch will be in an hour and a half, so do your best until then!"

When the gong sounded again they trailed back into the bunkhouse, leaving their mud-caked boots by the door. Sasuke was pleased with the amount of ground he had weeded, especially as Juugo had followed along, tilling the soil so that with a layer of compost. He was sweaty, filthy and exhausted, but couldn't help but feel satisfied. The majority of the group took a shower before lunch, with the exception being Inari who Sasuke suspected wasn't used to the communal bathroom situation. He would adjust soon enough.

Lunch was grilled vegetables and it was served in the den. The meal was eagerly received by Sasuke's stomach. He was tired from the work and buzzing with cold from the shower.

"Is the hot water broken?" Sasuke heard Suigetsu ask from somewhere down the table.

"Yup, permanently," Naruto said, dumping a jug of water on the wooden table and making it groan under the weight of all the dishes. "You'll grow to love cold showers. Invigorating for the mind."

"You sound like Kakashi," Sasuke said, passing Shikamaru the rice.

"I hope that's a joke," Naruto said. "Alright kiddos. You've done your hours, and the rest of the day is free for whatever you like, although I reckon you'll be exhausted in the afternoons until your body adjusts. Dinner will be at six and you won't get it unless you wash and dry all your dishes." He headed to the door, then stopped, snapping his fingers. "Almost forgot, there's a treat if you survive to the end of the week, so look forward to it!"

* * *

**AN:** Editing is hard, you guys. A lot harder than one might have thought when one suggested that one was able to update every day. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed! It's really fun when I get to reply to them and chat about stuff with you.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for this chapter:**  
_Onsen _are Japanese public baths. You scrub up, rinse off and then soak.  
_Genkan _is the porch area of a Japanese house where you remove your shoes.  
_Kaiten-zushi _is a conveyer belt sushi place.  
_Kotatsu _is a low table with a heater underneath and a blanket around it. If you go in one you will fall asleep.

* * *

**Roots and Seeds**

Every single part of Sasuke's body hurt the next morning and from the groans he heard as he lay prone in bed, he wasn't the only one feeling the effects of the previous day's work. Over the next few days his body slowly adapted to the labour and by the end of the week he was able to sit up in bed without feeling like all his muscles were burning.

Some changes, like the ache of his muscles in the morning, he had expected, and others he had forgotten. The skin on his hands had toughened, though it had been a painful few days before the callouses formed. His sleep pattern which had been irregular for the last few months and patchy before that, settled within a few days. His mattress was thin enough that he could feel the slats of the bed through it, but the work was so exhausting that every night he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The rest of his group had were also settling in. Karin now opted to forego breakfast in order to get a precious extra fifteen minutes of sleep, though it meant she was always ravenous by the time the riceballs were handed out, and ate most of Suigetsu's as well.

Sasuke was interested to note that Kurenai took part in the daily work, though at a much slower pace than the others. On the second day as he sought to convince his tight muscles to work, she stationed herself nearby, raking away the leaves and weeds that he had cut. Between him, Juugo and Kurenai, they were making good progress. Comparatively, Shikamaru seemed to get nothing done. He divided his time between stroking the earth with his rake too lightly to make any difference, and offering Kurenai drinks of water.

On the sixth day, Sasuke exited the bunkhouse and couldn't find his hoe in the usual pile of tools that were kept in the shed. He surmising that he might have left it leaning against the other side of the shed, closer to where he worked, so left the group to find it. He rounded the corner to find Kurenai and Shikamaru arguing.

Shikamaru was leaning into her space, one hand clamped around the wrist of her raised hand. Kurenai was giving him a cold look, utterly foreign on her usually calm features, but holding her ground. They had both been speaking in hushed tones but stopped when they saw Sasuke.

His hoe was leaning against the wooden wall of the shed, but Sasuke hesitated. He didn't know the situation or their relationship - even the normalities of their culture were unknown for this. He reasoned that what he'd walked in on might be the sort of thing that some people would turn a blind eye on, writing it off as not their business.

Before he could make a decision either way, Kurenai jerked her hand out of his grasp and stepped back. Shikamaru said something low in Chinese and her eyes narrowed. She walked briskly away, pausing when she passed Sasuke but not looking at him.

"Please excuse us," she said, her words clear enough to pass to Shikamaru whose scowl deepened, though blunted by her accent. "It's time to begin work."

Sasuke grabbed the hoe and followed her out, noticing that Shikamaru made no move to follow or to even acknowledge his presence.

Most people were already at work when Sasuke arrived. It was overcast with a thick dark cloud covering the sky and a strong wind that chilled the sweat even as it formed. As a result, the ground was scattered with cherry blossom petals and clearing the ground was difficult. The wind kept blowing his fringe into his eyes and catching hold of the cut weeds to toss them back over the recently cleared ground.

Kurenai was standing a few metres away, raking the same spot, eyebrows pulled together. She wasn't wearing a coat and the wind swept her long hair up to lash around her, though she seemed not to notice. Shikamaru hadn't returned, and a few of the other students hadn't turned up, Juugo and Karin included, although Suigetsu was hacking away at the ground.

Through the work, Sasuke's body had warmed up so that he could feel sweat at his collar and on his back, but his fingers were cold and stiff to move. He scrutinised the area that he had cleared and concluded that it was undeniably smaller than his usual rate of work. It was also messier, as Kurenai wasn't raking the debris properly, and anything she did was quickly undone by the wind.

His mood of dissatisfaction seemed to be shared. When they sat down to take a break, there was no chatter. The only thing that convinced him to start again was that the inactivity was making him even colder. The reality of the weather - much milder than whatever he would be experiencing in the UK - made him realise how little time he spent outside everyday. It seemed like his life was going from house to car to office and repeating.

"...why are you being such a jerk about this?" Karin's voice carried across the field, wavering in the wind. Sasuke glanced up to see that she had arrived at least, pulling her coat around her and trying to do it up as it kept flapping open. "What's the big deal?"

"You know what the deal is, Karin." Suigetsu leaned on his scythe, eyeing her dispassionately.

"Not this again." Karin rubbed her face, frustrated. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Come and work like you're supposed to? Like the rest of us?"

"And what kind of friend would that make me? Jesus, you know what he's like."

"And I know what you're like."

Karin stiffened at that, and Sasuke thought the argument might turn ugly, but instead she turned and moved to work by Kurenai, kneeling down to use her spade.

Arguments all round, Sasuke thought, turning back to his own work. He was more than grateful when they finished their hours and were able to troop inside. On his bed, Sasuke found a pamphlet explaining Japanese telephone rates which he assumed had been left there by mistake, and ignored. He saw that a few of the students that hadn't been working were still curled up in bed, huddled under piles of blankets and sniffling. His bunkbed was empty, but given the sickly atmosphere, Sasuke decided to spend the afternoon in the den instead, which was where Naruto found him.

"Well, this is cosy," Naruto said. Sasuke looked up from the book he was reading. "Sasuke, you really need to tone it down a notch. Your wild activities are getting out of hand."

"What are you doing here?"

"Our big night out, remember?" Naruto deflated at Sasuke's uninspired look. "Don't tell me you forgot. I put it on the noticeboard."

"Where are we going?"

Naruto locked his hands behind his head. "A surprise!" He disappeared for a moment and then returned to the den, herding a handful of lodgers from the bunkrooms, and the group soon found themselves on the bus, hurtling down the dark road.

"So where's everyone else?" Naruto asked as he drove. "We might as well have taken a taxi. What about all the students?"

Karin was sitting up next to Sasuke and leaned across him to speak. "Kimimaro, Tayuya and the others are sick. They've got the flu. I don't know why Shikamaru and Kurenai didn't want to come."

"Their loss, 'cause tonight is going to be aces."

The building Naruto drove them to was excessively warm - something Sasuke appreciated greatly and spent a few moments enjoying before looking around. It was a small public building with a wide _genkan_ where they had removed their shoes and donned sandals. There was a reception with rates in Japanese listed and it took Sasuke barely a second to read and translate the words.

"Japanese baths?" He looked at Naruto, surprised. "We're taking a bath?"

"On a cold day, after hours of labouring on the fields, what could be better?" Naruto slung a heavy arm around his neck, pulling him closer. "An authentic Japanese bonding experience!"

"You always were weirdly comfortable with being naked in public," Sasuke said, extracting himself from Naruto's grip, only to find Suigetsu pulling him to the side.

"Sasuke, you've been to a Japanese bath before, right?"

"Yeah?" Sasuke ignored the suspicious look Naruto was giving them and made a shooing motion in his direction.

"It's not going to be mixed, is it?"

"Huh?" Sasuke saw Suigetsu give Karin a nervous glance and understood. "No, it'll be segregated. Men on one side and women on the other."

"Cool, thanks. You're okay." Giving him a heavy pat on the back, Suigetsu bounced off to join Naruto who was paying at the till, and Sasuke heard him practicing his four line Japanese introduction with the startled receptionist.

The bath itself was like many that Sasuke had seen before. A small room, shrouded in steam, with areas for cleaning and bathing. Sasuke wasn't particularly bashful, but he knew that foreigners could be quite disruptive in such situations and was grateful that the baths were mainly empty. Upon entering he grabbed a plastic stool and started soaping up at the wash station. They were given a small towel that could be used for scrubbing, but Sasuke preferred to sling it around his hips.

"Sort of weird, being naked around other dudes." Suigestu pulled up a stool next to him and started experimenting with the spray used for rinsing off, soaking Sasuke in cold water. "What's with that?"

"You're not supposed to look," Sasuke said. He adjusted the temperature gauge to warm and doused himself in water, shivering as his cold muscles started to heat up. "It's a cultural thing."

"Kind of takes getting used to..." Despite what he said, Suigetsu seemed comfortable by the time they rinsed off and settled into the hot bath sunk into one corner of the room. The water was white with steam rising from it and the temperature was so hot that Sasuke's skin went pink as he eased in. The heat on his sore muscles felt heavenly and he suppressed a groan as he sank in to shoulder level.

He heard someone talking in Japanese and opened his eyes to see Naruto stepping in and addressing a Japanese man in the opposite corner. Naruto had balanced his towel on his head with no thought for his modesty as he settled on Sasuke's other side. He said something else in Japanese and the man gave him a timid thumbs up.

"Aaah, this hits the spot!" Naruto made an obscene noise, rolling his shoulders back. "Nothing like it, eh?" He poked Sasuke in the shoulder. "Like I said, a male bonding experience."

"It's great that you picked a male bonding experience that requires us to be naked," Sasuke said, closing his eyes. "We couldn't have watched a baseball game or something." He let out a sigh; despite his token protests, he couldn't help but feel relaxed.

"I wonder what it's like on the girls' side..." Suigetsu sounded as mellow as Sasuke felt, if a little more lecherous.

"I've thought about this for a long time," Naruto said. "I think it's like a sleepover, but more wet and naked." There was a hum of agreement. "Inari, no!"

Sasuke opened his eyes to see Naruto making a cross with his arms in a universal sign of 'no'. "You have to rinse before you get in. No soap in the tub!"

Snorting, Sasuke went back to resting, but when Inari finally entered - soap free, the bath started to feel a bit small and Sasuke opted to leave. He considered the cold pool, but passed it over, since he had to take a cold shower every day. Instead he settled on one of the pot style baths and rested his arms over the side, feeling the cool ceramic against his face. The best thing about this style, he decided, was that it was only suitable for one person.

Or so he thought. There was the padding of feet and then Sasuke felt and heard the splash. "It's too small, go away," he mumbled.

"You're not that fat." Naruto proved his point by pinching Sasuke's side and making him flinch - water spilling out over the sides. "Move over."

Disgruntled, Sasuke obliged him, flinching again when Naruto's shoulder brushed his as he made himself comfortable. An uneasy silence fell and Sasuke hastened to break it. "Your Japanese has improved."

Naruto blinked before grinning widely. "Yeah! I practice a lot." He rested his head on his arms next to Sasuke. "What about you? How's the old mother tongue?"

Sasuke shifted. He didn't know how to feel when Naruto mentioned the things he knew about him so casually. "It's alright. The speaking is a bit rusty, I guess."

"You didn't practice back home?"

"I tried." Sasuke kept his eyes closed, thinking back. "It was just difficult. There wasn't anyone to practice with and I was busy... After a while I started to forget things and it seemed pointless."

"Are you going to take a class?

"I haven't decided yet," Sasuke felt his thoughts swimming lazily around his head.

"There's a once a week conversation class you could go to," Naruto offered. "I go too, just for fun, but it could help you improve your speaking."

"I'll think about it." Sasuke yawned and shifted slightly, feeling that his skin was starting to prune. His muscles were infused with heat and if he stayed any longer in the bath he wasn't sure he'd be able to get out. "I'm going. Don't drown."

* * *

An hour later they found themselves in a _kaiten-zushi _watching the plates circulate on their little conveyor belt. Karin and Suigetsu were sitting together and arguing over the menu, apparently made up for now.

"Don't you dare order _sashimi_ - you always order it and then you never finish it and I have to," Karin said, trying to tug the menu from him. "Do you know how expensive that stuff is?"

"How about we get a platter?" Naruto leaned across the small booth with his own menu and pointed to a selection. "That way we can all share."

He placed the order by using the touch screen computer on the table, ignoring the digital mascot that bounced and chattered in comic style speech bubbles. Sasuke had seen it before so busied himself making everyone green tea, but the others were intrigued - even more so when their order circulated on the conveyer belt, and stopped right at their table.

Sasuke stuck mostly with _nigiri_, though he tried a few slices of the dark red salmon _sashimi_ that melted on his tongue.

"Dude, are you sure?" Naruto asked as Inari took a complex arrangement topped with bulbous tuna roe onto his place. "Don't want to start off with some salmon or something?"

"I'm trying to do one thing that scares me every day of this trip," Inari said, poking his food with a chopstick. "I've never been out of the Philippines before this so I want to experience as many new things as possible."

"You looked pretty scared going into the baths," Suigetsu pointed out. "If your grip had gotten any tighter on that towel, you'd have ripped right through it."

Karin smacked him in the arm, making him flinch and lean away. "Don't be mean!"

It was dark when they piled into a cab - the minibus would be retrieved when someone was sober enough to do so - and Naruto leaned forward to give the driver instructions on where to go.

"Your Japanese is pretty good," Suigetsu said, evidently having listened to Naruto's communications with the locals. Have you lived here for long?"

"A while, I guess," Naruto said. One year when I was eighteen, and then the last four years. In between I travelled, and before that I lived all over with my uncle. Africa, mostly, but we didn't stay in one place for long."

"What happened your uncle?" Suigetsu asked tactlessly. Naruto shrugged, good humoured.

"Nothing, really. We still catch up from time to time but he's the kind of person that's always on the move. I didn't want to keep doing that anymore."

"Africa, huh?" Suigetsu said. "I thought you were American because of your accent."

Naruto laughed, rubbing his nose. "That's probably as side-effect of too many American sitcoms when I was growing up."

Sasuke zoned Naruto out as he started recounting tales of his youth, having heard it before. He listened instead to the warm, welcoming tone of his voice.

"What do you actually do all day?" Suigetsu asked after Naruto had finished speaking. "You're never out in the field with us."

"That's because you guys are the cheap labour, and I am the slightly less cheap labour," Naruto said. "I deal with the paperwork associated with you guys and general running the farm, as well as making sure we have enough food and other supplies."

"Does shopping really take that long?" Inari asked, looking a bit squashed between Karin and the door.

"Actually, Kakashi doesn't pay that well so I have another job helping out with some English classes in the high school nearby." He grinned at Sasuke, holding his gaze for a second. "The kids can't get enough of me."

"Can't think why that is." Sasuke stifled another yawn. They had chased down the sushi with a few beers and by the time they tumbled out of the cab and into the courtyard, he was feeling warm and sleepy, despite the rain that misted around them.

He watched Suigetsu supporting a drunk Karin around the house with an arm slung around her waist; apparently she was a lightweight.

"Hey Uchiha." Sasuke felt a light touch on his wrist and turned to see Naruto grinning at him. "Fancy a nightcap?"

He led Sasuke into the main house and into the _genkan_ where they removed their shoes; Naruto shoving his towards a corner with his foot before entering the foyer, socked feet padding along the tatami floors. The house was a good example of a traditional Japanese house with a simple layout, and it could be beautiful with a little effort.

"Is it weird living with Kakashi?" Sasuke asked as they passed through a narrow corridor, towards the kitchen but turning up a steep staircase instead. He could make out shapes but they both had to walk slowly to ensure they didn't bump into any of the boxes and shelves that lined every hallway.

"Not really. If I ignore all the junk, half the time I feel like I'm the only one here. Besides, this place is pretty big."

Sasuke had to agree as Naruto led him past several shadowed doorways and up yet another winding staircase he had never seen before in his short visits to the house. With the lights off and no sounds except the light rain outside and their own footsteps, it was easy to believe the house was completely empty, just as Naruto said.

Naruto's room was at the top of the staircase. He slid back the door and snapped on the light before ushering Sasuke in, unmindful of the half-folded futon that was crumpled in the corner.

"If this place is so big, why is your room so small?" Sasuke walked over to the window and looked out onto the fields, seeing only dark shapes for the mountains and forest as the moon was shrouded in cloud.

"Kakashi said I could have a bigger room," Naruto said, grabbing a corner of the futon and smoothing it out before motioning Sasuke to sit down. "But he said I would have to clean it out first. No way would I do that. Seriously, this house would be a national treasure if it wasn't so full of junk."

"It's even worse than when we were here."

"It's always the way with those smutty books," Naruto gave him a lopsided grin. "Leave them around long enough and they breed."

"It's depraved," Sasuke muttered.

"Yup! Hey, are you cold? I'll get the _kotatsu_."

Sasuke hadn't realised he was shivering, but alcohol often made him oblivious to the outside temperature. He watched Naruto drag the low table into the centre of the room and plug in the attached heater.

"I normally put it away when the snow melts, but I remember how much you like these things." Naruto arranged the blanket around the table so that it covered Sasuke's folded knees, letting his fingers linger for a second, before slipping his own legs under it. "Aah, can't beat a warm _kotatsu_ on a cold night. From November to February I practically live in this thing."

Naruto produced two cans of beer, from where, Sasuke wasn't sure, and him one. "This is still your favourite brand, right?"

"Yeah." Sasuke took a sip, feeling the familiar taste fold over his tongue. The heater underneath the _kotatsu_ had warmed up and his body was relaxed from the _onsen_ and drinks earlier. "Just like old times," he said, thinking of the cosy evenings they had spent studying Japanese or writing letters home with their legs tucked under the kotatsu to keep warm. He leaned his elbows on the table and his knee bumped Naruto's. When he looked up, Naruto was looking at him with a contemplative gleam in his eyes.

"What do you think of the lodgers?" Sasuke said, breaking eye-contact.

"They're interesting," Naruto said, sounding amused. "I've been here for four years and I've never seen anyone pregnant wanting to get into agriculture before." He raised his eyebrows so they disappeared behind a fringe of shaggy blond. "And I've never had a couple that argues as much as Suigetsu and Karin. They seem more like Osaka types."

"Why did you come back?" Sasuke asked, rubbing his thumb along the cuff of his sweater. "You said you were going to try college."

"That was the plan, but I got distracted." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, a light blush on his face. "I thought I'd just do a bit more travelling, and then I figured I could try and save up some money to pay for college, and now I'm back here." He smiled at Sasuke, warm and connected. "I don't mind though. College isn't going anywhere. I moved around so much when I was a kid, it was nice to settle, and this is the only place I really felt I belonged."

Sasuke nodded slowly. "You do seem to fit in. Your Japanese is good and the lodgers seem to get on with you as well."

"It helps that I actually organise how many we take and when they come. Remember the year we were here? Half the time Kakashi hadn't got anyone else and we had to do two weeks of harvesting on our own."

"That was not fun," Sasuke said, remembering the days he had spent in bed because every movement made his muscles feel like they were on fire.

"Didn't help that our futons were made of tissue paper," Naruto grumbled, then brightened. "How do you like the bunkbeds? I was the one that insisted we do that so there'd be more room."

"I guess this place has become more popular," Sasuke mused.

"Are you kidding? We actually had to turn some people away this year!" Naruto gestured wildly, spilling some of his beer. "This whole returning to nature, escaping from the stresses of life; people can't get enough of it." He mopped up the beer with a corner of the blanket and cocked his head at Sasuke. "So how did you end up back here?"

"Escaping from the stresses of life and returning to nature," Sasuke said, taking a sip of his drink. It was empty, which he thought was okay since he had a feeling any more alcohol would push him from pleasantly buzzed to drunk. "It's really weird to be back; I never thought I would return to this place, or see you again." He hesitated. "I missed you."

"Me too." Naruto's voice was soft but he smiled, shifting to lean towards Sasuke. "I liked travelling afterwards, and I made other friends, but it was never the same as it was with you. It was..." his eyes darted across Sasuke's face as he searched for words. "Painful, for a long time. I'd see something and be reminded of you or something we'd done together..." He sighed, then reached over to touch Sasuke's shoulder lightly, hand hot through the wool of his sweater. "I'm really glad you're here."

Sasuke felt long-buried emotions shifting as he met Naruto's steady gaze. After being so close during the year they'd spent so close together, the first few years without Naruto really had been lonely.

He realised, with a sort of numb shock, that the attraction he had felt to Naruto all those years ago, had resurfaced without him even noticing. When they were teenagers it had cropped up from time to time but was mostly ignored or brushed over. In the years apart it had been easy to forget about it, to the extent that he'd wondered if it had just been a random infatuation or an desperate attachment between two lonely people.

Naruto watched Sasuke's reaction, and keeping his eyes on his face, moved his hand up, along the rise of Sasuke's shoulder. His expression was open but intense, and a ball of tightness in Sasuke relaxed as he realised how similar Naruto looked to the way he had at seventeen. He was perhaps a little taller, his jaw was wider and his shoulders broader, but his eyes and his expressions were just the same.

"I'm not reading you wrong, am I?" Naruto's hesitant tone was a direct contrast to the bold press of his thumb against the exposed skin of Sasuke's neck and then up to stroke along his jaw. "Tell me you want this."

"I want it." Sasuke's hand came up around Naruto's wrist and he swallowed; the contact was electric.

They kissed, easing into it, tasting and then just breathing against each other. Sasuke's hand came up to Naruto's hair and gripped it gently, guiding their mouths together again and moving his body closer so that the table was no longer between them. He ignored the stirrings of guilt and relaxed into the embrace and warmth. It was like finding a part of himself that he hadn't realised he'd lost.

* * *

Sasuke had just closed the front door as quietly as possible and turned towards the bunkhouse, when Kakashi appeared.

"Good morning," Kakashi said amiably. He looked at the sky, which was still dark. "Or is it night?"

"It's late and I don't have time for your crap," Sasuke said, speeding up his pace. Any relaxation he had gained from the prior evening was completely gone and Kakashi's presence was grating on already wrecked nerves.

"Just thought I'd check that you got the information I left for you," Kakashi said. At Sasuke's blank look, he elaborated. "I left it on your pillow?"

"What?" Sasuke frowned. "You mean the telephone leaflet? That was you?"

"I assumed that was the reason you haven't tried to use my phone this week: you were worried about ringing up a phone bill."

"Thats-" Sasuke stopped, going over the past few days and realising that over a week had passed since his last phone call home. The guilt that he had pushed away a few hours ago dropped heavily in his stomach and he cursed, rubbing his face with a hand. "I didn't realise so much time had passed," he said. The excuses sounded hollow even to him.

"You know Sasuke," Kakashi said as they reached the back door of the house, "people come to a place like this for lots of different reasons." He ruffled Sasuke's hair, damp from the rain. "Don't be too tough on yourself. And the phone's free now."

By the time Sasuke entered the bunkhouse, it was nearly dawn. The cold was creeping in again and all he wanted was to go to bed for a few hours before the gong sounded. He headed to the shower block and was frustrated to find the door locked so that he couldn't even enter the building. It was freezing and he was about to just head back to the bunkhouse and use the kitchen sink to wash his face, when the lock grated open.

"What the hell did you lock the door for?" Sasuke didn't wait for a reply and shoved straight past, barely acknowledging the person who left.

He washed his face, went to bed and tried not to think too hard about what he was doing.

* * *

**AN: **I think the worst of the editing is done. Thanks for all the feedback I've been getting, it's really helped with the process.


	6. Chapter 6

**For this chapter:**  
_Italics _are used when someone is speaking in Japanese.

* * *

**Roots and Seeds**

There was a comfort in the routine. It gave him a structure to his days and stopped his mind straying to difficult topics. In the morning he worked in the field with the others. While some of Suigetsu's group found the work difficult, Sasuke had settled into it. He enjoyed the occasional ache he felt in his muscles, although it occurred less and less. Even better was how tired he was at night and the fact that he slept peacefully all the way through.

Without Naruto, Sasuke thought as the man in question made a beeline across the field to him, he would be on his way to a nice, orderly existence.

"You weren't there this morning," Naruto said as soon as he was close enough.

"Do you have to say things like that in public?" Sasuke said looking around. Shikamaru was tilling the ground a few metres away but he gave no sign he had heard anything so Sasuke relaxed.

"What? It's not like these people are Japanese. Public displays of affection aren't going to freak them out." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"Let's not test that." Sasuke resumed digging furrows into the earth with his shovel.

"It would have been pretty nice if you'd stayed." Naruto scowled when Sasuke ignored him. "Sasuke!"

"Do we have to talk about this?" Sasuke gritted out. "It happened. Let's move on."

"Naruto! Hey!" They both glanced around to see Inari jogging towards them. He nearly tripped over a spade that Kimimaro was leaning on, but just stumbled before carrying on to them. "Hi!" He gave Sasuke a smile before turning to Naruto. "Last night was really fun. It was really cool of you to take us out."

"It's not a big deal." Naruto scratched the back of his head, taken aback by the enthusiasm. "I mean, Kakashi pays, so..."

"But it was awesome! Right, Sasuke?" Inari nudged him, ruining the way he had been trying to edge out of the conversation.

"Actually, Inari, Sasuke isn't that happy," Naruto cut in. Sasuke glanced at him sharply and his scowl deepened when he saw the stupid faux-serious expression he had adopted.

"What? How come?" Inari seemed dumbstruck. His eyes were wide under his bowl-cut hair and it made him look younger than ever.

"I don't know." Naruto refused to let Sasuke talk as he was apparently enjoying himself too much. "I mean it seemed like he was enjoying himself a lot last night. That was the impression I had."

"Maybe you just really wanted me to have had a good time, and that's why it seemed that way," Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto.

"You seemed happy when I saw you," Inari said dubiously.

"He seemed really happy when I last saw him," Naruto said. "_Really_ happy."

"Did the sushi disagree with you?" Inari asked. Behind him, Sasuke could see Naruto fighting not to laugh.

"I'm going for lunch." Sasuke said tersely. "You two have fun." As he walked away he heard Naruto call after him but ignored it. If he stayed any longer he had a feeling he would end up using the shovel for something more violent.

* * *

"I know you're stressed out about everything, but you can't keep acting like this."

"You know you could just give me and answer and make me a lot less stressed."

"You're an asshole, you know that? There's no way I'm letting you pressure me like that. I mean, is that the way you want this?"

"...No. But it'd make things easier. At least then I could trust you."

"You can trust me..."

There was soap opera going on in the next bunk over, and it was taking away Sasuke's last precious minutes of sleep. He ought to tell Kakashi that the money on creating separate bunkrooms had been wasted based on the amount of time Karin was spending in Suigetsu's bunk.

Now that conversation had ceased, the sounds moved away from suggestive and into explicit. Sasuke decided that he would just get up. Suigetsu and Karin certainly didn't seem to notice as he passed them, and it never failed to surprise him just how quickly they could switch from angry violent, to angry sexy.

Sasuke paused as he shuffled towards the shower block. Something seemed different and when he looked up he realised that the sun was a lot higher than he had expected. He checked his watch for the time and realised that even though he hadn't heard the gong, it was a lot later than they normally woke up.

"- he's not coming, just get over here." Sasuke paused as he heard Naruto's voice distantly. He looked around, acutely aware that he hadn't been alone with Naruto since the bathhouse outing two weeks ago, and spied him at the other end of the shower block, talking to someone on his mobile.

Determined to ignore him, Sasuke set his sights on the door and walked briskly towards it.

"Sasuke, hey! Wait."

Ignoring him, Sasuke carried on, reaching the door just as Naruto caught up with him.

"You can't go in there, it's locked," Naruto said, putting his phone into his pocket.

"You locked it so you could ambush me? Wow." Sasuke tried the handle and found it didn't move at all. "Not creepy at all."

"Sasuke -"

"Look, Naruto, I don't want to talk about that right now, so why don't you unlock the door and let me get on with my day," Sasuke reasoned. Naruto stared at him, mouth opening and closing, apparently at a loss. "Well?"

"You are so crazy," Naruto said, for once without a single hint of endearment. "None of this is about that, although for the record, you're a douche - "

"So you always say. It didn't stop you."

"That is _so_ not the issue right now," Naruto said, clenching his fists as though he was restraining himself from throttling Sasuke. "Crazy aside, you can't go in the shower block because someone has locked it from the inside."

"What, you mean someone got locked in?" Sasuke asked, thinking back to the night he had found the door locked.

"No, I mean they are in there, and they locked the door so no one else can get in." Naruto brushed a hand through his hair, looking around. "Kakashi says he'll be here soon."

"Who is it?" Sasuke asked, looking at the door warily. "I mean, who's in there?"

"I think it's that guy with the bleached hair? The one who's related to Suigetsu? He was talking to begin with, but he stopped a few minutes ago." Naruto gnawed his lip. "I'm worried he's sick or something."

"Kimimaro," Sasuke said. "He was in there a few nights ago as well. I caught him on the way out..."

"There wasn't anything in his medical records. We ask all lodgers to disclose any medical conditions just in case... Shit, maybe I missed something. I should have..."

"Naruto, calm down. It's fine," Sasuke said, trying to imbue Naruto with a sense of calm that he didn't feel. As he said it, Kakashi came out of the bunkhouse with Kurenai behind him, tying a dressing gown around her belly.

"Morning all," Kakashi said briskly, lifting an electric drill to the lock. With his free hand, he gave the door a firm knock. "This is your last chance to unlock the door." There was no answer and he hefted the drill. It whined as he set it against the screws to remove the lock.

"Should we call someone?" Sasuke hedged. "An ambulance... or the police?"

"It's too early to say," Kakashi said, voice strained. "If there's a medical issue, Kurenai's here."

"I'm a trained nurse," Kurenai said softly. Naruto gave Sasuke a look as if to say 'oh, that explains that'.

Just as a modicum of order started to descend on the situation, Shikamaru came running out of the bunkhouse with a blazing expression. He stalked straight up to Kurenai, ignoring the others.

"What are you doing out here? You're not dressed properly," he said, eyeing her dressing gown sceptically. He himself was fully dressed, without a trace of sleep.

"Someone is in there," Kurenai said gesturing. "He may be injured or sick. Mr Hatake asked me to help."

"Please, Kakashi is fine," Kakashi said without looking away from the lock.

"Sick how?" Shikamaru rounded on Naruto and Sasuke and startling them. "The flu? Something else?"

"We don't know," Kurenai interjected. "If it's serious, we'll call an ambulance."

"Call an ambulance now because there's no way I'm letting you have anything to do with this," Shikamaru said. "You're nearly six months pregnant, you shouldn't be exposing yourself to anything that could be contagious."

"I'm just doing my job," Kurenai said. Her calm air started to waver and her accent became more pronounced.

"This isn't a hospital," Shikamaru gritted out. When Kurenai made no move to leave, it seemed to break his patience and he spat something in Chinese that made her flinch.

She replied in the same language, though more calmly, leaving Sasuke clueless as to what they were saying. Whatever it was, it seemed to floor Shikamaru for a few moments before he could collect himself.

"Do what you want," he said finally, eyes narrowed. "You always do." He stalked off back to the bunkhouse, just as Kakashi fished the last screw out of its hole and pushed the metal lock through the door, so that they heard it clang as it hit the bathroom floor.

"Naruto, go back to the bunkhouse and tell people they should use the bathroom in the main house. Make sure they don't come out here," Kakashi said, one hand on the door handle. "Kurenai, your friend has a point. If you still wish to assist, please use your own judgement and don't endanger yourself." His gaze shifted to Sasuke. "You stay here and be ready to call for an ambulance if I say."

"Alright," Sasuke said, taking the phone that Naruto offered him and flipping it open. Naruto gave them one more glance before jogging back to the bunkhouse and disappearing inside.

"We're coming in," Kakashi said, raising his voice before he slid the door back. There was no sound from within, only the underlying scent of disinfectant and rust that seemed to linger in the shower block. "Hello?"

Kakashi stepped inside, the rubber mat squeaking underneath his shoes, followed by Kurenai and then Sasuke, who was clutching the phone. The shower stalls were empty, but by the sinks there was a body crumpled on the floor. Kurenai gasped and rushed forward, kneeling down and checking for a pulse as Sasuke took a few steps forward, feeling nauseated.

"Kimimaro," he mumbled. Kakashi gave him a sharp look and he cleared his throat. "That's his name. He hasn't been around that much. Karin said he had the flu." Still, it was easy to recognise the pale skin and hair - he looked a little like Suigetsu, but his features were less angular. Instead, his skin seemed drawn back, as if suffering from an illness that had caused him to lose a lot of weight in a short time.

"He's breathing," Kurenai said, rolling Kimimaro on to his side and arranging his limbs into what Sasuke recognised as the recovery position. "He probably passed out but I think he bumped his head so we should still call the ambulance."

Nodding, Sasuke stepped outside for a second to place the call, trying to explain the situation to the switchboard as well as possible, but his mind kept freezing up over specific medical vocabulary and it took longer than he had expected.

When he returned, the sound of the door grating open seemed to echo. Kakashi and Kurenai were kneeling on either side of Kimimaro and looked up when he stepped inside.

"They're on their way," Sasuke said, walking over to the sinks. "How is he?"

"His vitals are stable but his pulse and temperature are elevated which could be a sign of infection. We'll know for sure when the ambulance gets here," Kurenai said, keeping her eyes on Kimimaro.

"I'll go around to the front to guide them in," Sasuke suggested, feeling like a bystander. He leaned against one of the sinks and then stepped back, catching his breath. "Oh."

"What?" Kakashi asked sharply, apparently detecting something in his tone.

"That's blood," Sasuke said dumbly, stepping back from the sink and pointing to it. Kurenai immediately stood, ushering Kakashi to stay where he was while she verified what Sasuke had seen.

"That could explain something," she said, tight-lipped. "We'll let the paramedics know." She nodded at Sasuke, bringing him back to the present. He felt better as soon as he stepped outside and took in lungfuls of fresh air. In the back of his mind, he could see the way the blood had looked against the white porcelain of the sink. Tiny specks of it sprayed around larger pools, slowly draining down through the plug.

Sasuke jogged around to the front of the building and had just managed to unlock and pull the wooden gates open when he spied movement far up on the road and heard the sound of sirens that grew louder with each passing second.

Briefly, a film of memory cast over his vision and he saw himself standing in his parent's bedroom with his head ducked under the lace curtain. He remembered how the ambulance turned in and pulled up onto their drive and the men got out. Then he had run down the stairs and opened the door to bring them in, just like his parents had told him to.

"Is it this way?" The gruff voice of the paramedic shook him from his thoughts and he nodded. They had parked just inside the gates and Sasuke guided them through to the back of the farm.

There were raised voices coming from the direction of the shower block and when Sasuke rounded the corner, he found Suigetsu arguing with Kakashi while Karin tried to calm him down.

"We're his family, we have a right to know," Suigetsu was saying. Karin tugged on his arm, hissing something in what Sasuke assumed was Finnish.

"I'm aware of that, but it was imperative to avoid causing panic which could have impeded your cousin getting help as fast as possible," Kakashi said, unperturbed.

Ignoring them for the time being, Sasuke led the paramedics into the showerblock, where Kurenai waited with Kimimaro. He had intended to leave them to it, but found himself acting as a translator since Kurenai lacked the language skills to explain the situation clearly.

He did his best to translate all the information Kurenai gave as two of the paramedics loaded Kimimaro onto a stretcher and walked towards the ambulance. Meanwhile, a third approached Kakashi.

"_Could you give us any information about the patient?_" he asked in Japanese. Suigetsu frowned at being shut out by the language and immediately spied Sasuke who he pulled over.

"What are they saying?" he muttered. "Did they find something?"

"No," Sasuke said, trying to listen and wriggle his arm out of Suigetsu's iron grip. "The paramedic asked for any information that might be useful. Kakashi is saying that he doesn't know much, as he only arrived a month ago, but he..." Sasuke paused, trying to find the right words. "He didn't disclose anything on his health form, and he's missed a few days of work and some outings because he had the flu."

Suigetsu frowned. "Yeah he got it at the same time as a bunch of his friends... We thought it was just being in a new place, but most people were over it in a week and he seemed to... relapse. At night I kept hearing him coughing but I didn't realise how much time had passed."

Sasuke translated the information to the paramedic, in his mind seeing the blood spattered in the sink. He hadn't heard any coughing, but then he slept very deeply.

"You go too, Sasuke," Kakashi said, gesturing to the ambulance.

"What?" Sasuke frowned. "Me?"

"Yeah, why should he go?" Suigetsu put in.

"They may need anymore information. He can translate and tell them, or call us here and get the information," Kakashi said. "I'll call you and Karin a taxi so that you can follow behind."

Suigetsu seemed to accept his, nodding slowly, before heading back to the bunkhouse, muttering something about telling the others. Sasuke followed the paramedic back to the ambulance and they drove back onto the main road.

* * *

In the end, besides the actual patient, Sasuke was the one that stayed at the hospital the most. Kimimaro regained consciousness during the journey, but as soon as he arrived was taken in for examination so Sasuke waited with Karin and Suigetsu until the doctor came to see them.

"It appears he hit his head when he lost consciousness, as there is a little bruising and he has a mild concussion," the doctor said, then waited patiently while Sasuke translated.

"So, he's okay?" Karin asked. "_Is he well?_"

The doctor took longer to answer, adjusting her glasses and consulting the chart. Her answer was complicated and Sasuke had to ask her to repeat it, to his chagrin.

"She says that they think he has a chest infection that might be serious, but they have to wait for results. He isn't... coherent yet, so they haven't been able to talk to him and find out what happened."

"How long is that going to take?" Suigetsu asked, looking lost.

Sasuke relayed the question to the doctor and translated the answer. "She says she's not sure, it could be a few hours. The test results should be back in twelve hours, but they'll start him on medicine. I think antibiotics."

Karin and Suigetsu nodded, sinking back onto the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room while Sasuke thanked the doctor. He sat down next to them once the doctor left. Now that the adrenalin had left him, Sasuke's body felt heavy as he listened to Suigetsu and Karin whisper to each other in Finnish. Sasuke stared at the ceiling tiles and wondered why they couldn't have all their arguments in whispered Finnish. If they had just done that this morning, he wouldn't have been woken up and the entire day might have turned out differently.

An hour or so passed. Karin flicked through a Japanese magazine, looking at the pictures and translating the odd kanji she was familiar with. Suigetsu bought a drink from the vending machine and watched the people pass. Sasuke started to feel very out of place as the unnecessary extra. Kakashi called on his mobile at around noon.

"Suigetsu and Karin are just waiting for the OK to see Kimimaro." Sasuke sighed, adjusting the phone and glancing at where the other sat. "I don't know how long the doctor wants to keep him. It depends on his test results."

Kakashi requested that Sasuke kept him updated and hung up without saying anything about whether Sasuke should return to the farm or wait it out with Karin and Suigetsu.

Time passed slowly. At first there was plenty of paperwork to fill out, but Karin had thought to bring some of Suigetsu's documents so they were completed with little trouble. Sasuke listened to the conversations of the doctors and nurses around him, trying to understand what they were saying. The sharp tang of disinfectant combined with the scent of cheap detergent started to irritate him. Despite being on the other side of the world, it was close enough to what he had experienced in the past to keep triggering unpleasant memories.

Finally, the doctor said they could see Kimimaro and led them into his room. Sasuke didn't want to intrude on the family moment, but as the medical staff couldn't communicate in English, he had no choice and trailed in after them.

Kimimaro was sitting up in bed, wearing a pale blue hospital gown. He looked dazed, but smiled when they came in.

"_I'll give you some time to talk, but he still needs to rest_," the doctor said before leaving them. Suigetsu took the visitor's seat and Karin perched on the bed, leaving Sasuke lingering in the doorway.

"How are you feeling, Kimi?" Karin asked in a soft voice, adding something in Finnish.

"I'm okay. My head hurts but I think that's expected." His voice was soft but raspy and Sasuke poured him a glass of water from the bedside table, feeling useful. "Do you know how long I'm supposed to stay?"

"They're doing some tests - seems like you've picked up an infection," Suigetsu said. "Sorry I didn't notice, I should have been looking out for you."

"It's not your fault," Kimimaro said quickly. "I didn't want you to worry. I should have said when I realised it was getting serious, but I thought I could deal with it."

"I still feel awful," Suigetsu said, running a hand through his messy hair. "You didn't even want to come to Japan in the first place, and you end up in hospital in your first month here."

"Don't blame yourself," Kimimaro said softly.

They talked for a while, both in English and Finnish. Sasuke tried not to intrude but he was relieved when Kimimaro started to yawn and Karin and Suigetsu made their excuses to return to the farm.

Sasuke was about to call Kakashi and ask for a lift home when someone called out to him and to his relief he saw Naruto striding down the hospital corridor.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked. "How's Kimimaro doing?"

"He's alright. We're waiting on his test results, but they won't be ready until tomorrow," Karin said. She was holding hands with Suigetsu, their fingers loosely twined together. "We were just heading back now."

"Good timing," Naruto said with a nod, leading them out to the carpark and ushering him into a dusty black Hyundai. "Kakashi sent me to pick you guys up."

Like most Japanese cars, it was compact and had little room for privacy. Suigetsu and Karin piled into the back, leaving Sasuke to take the front seat. From the corner of his eye he saw Naruto give him a few concerned looks as they drove. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto seemed to accept that Sasuke wasn't willing to talk, and started a conversation with the others.

"I gave the guys at the farm a day off. Everyone seemed pretty shaken," he said, glancing in the rearview mirror to see Karin and Suigetsu.

"I bet," Karin said. "Tayuya's going to be furious."

"How do you all know each other?" Naruto asked.

"We all grew up in the same town," Karin said, laughing a little. "It's a tiny, freezing place with absolutely nothing to do except get wasted, especially if you're young. Me, Suigetsu and Juugo became friends at school, and then Suigetsu and I started dating."

"Kimimaro's my cousin," Suigetsu said. "Our dads are brothers and we grew up pretty close. When his friends found out that we were planning to do some travelling, they wanted to come too and eventually convinced Kimimaro as well."

"We figured we would start off here for three months, then do some backpacking around Asia," Karin said. "I can't believe how vague that is, but everytime I tried to make it more organised, everyone all teased me so much I gave up." She frowned, eyes worried behind her thick rimmed glasses. "I hope we'll still be able to do it..."

"How long have you two been dating?" Naruto asked.

"About four years," Karin said after a pause. "Two years while we were in school, and then one year when I was in college."

"You're studying?" Naruto turned his head briefly to ask.

"Yeah," Karin said slowly. "I've finished two years of medicine but I study in the city so I don't get to see Suigetsu that much. That's why I thought we should go on this trip and spend some time together."

Suigetsu didn't say anything and Karin trailed off. Naruto seemed to realise the conversation had turned too personal and also kept quiet.

"At least it worked out," Sasuke said, breaking the silence. "You've definitely been spending a lot of time together." He hadn't intended to say anything, and had thought his suggestion was light enough to be ignored, but he looked around to find the other staring at him. He sighed and addressed Suigetsu. "Your bunk is right next to mine."

There was a pause and then Naruto burst out laughing. "I cannot believe you just said that."

Sasuke couldn't either, but he couldn't deny that it had brightened the mood. "And another thing," he said, turning to Suigetsu and Karin. "Why is it that when you want to speak in private, you go back to Finnish, but when you're..." he raised his eyebrows, "you keep it in English so we all understand exactly what's going on."

Karin went bright red and started stuttering, but Suigetsu started laughing too after a moment of stunned silence.

Back at the farm, Suigetsu helped Karin out of the car and then thanked Sasuke. "Sorry for dragging you into this, but we really appreciate you translating."

"Yeah, thanks Sasuke," Karin said awkwardly. The flush from before had receded but she was still pink as they walked back to the bunkhouse.

"You doing okay?" Naruto asked, locking the car door and pocketing the keys. "Suigetsu's right, if you hadn't translated, I doubt the hospital would have been able to produce anyone."

"It's not like I had that much choice," Sasuke muttered, comfortable enough to act sullen. "You know what Kakashi's like. What about here? Was it okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm just relieved Kimimaro has a chest infection and nothing more dangerous. I think if Kurenai caught anything, Shikamaru would kill us all," Naruto said. "He's been fuming since this morning."

"The rest of Suigetsu's group was okay?"

"Yeah. Just a lot of swearing. Hopefully now they have more information they'll feel better. But seriously, are you okay? I know the whole thing with the ambulance can't have been great for you. And you had to wait in the hospital for ages." When Sasuke just looked blank, Naruto prompted. "I thought it might make you remember things."

Who told him? Sasuke thought despairingly. "Remember things?"

"About your brother?"

Sasuke nearly sagged with relief. Naruto was referring to Itachi. "I'm fine."

Naruto put a hand on his shoulder, in the exact same way that he had that night, two weeks ago. "Seriously? You're not just fronting?"

Feeling guilty that Naruto was trying to comfort him over memories of his brother while he was mentally reliving the moment Naruto had leaned in to kiss him, Sasuke cleared his throat, shrugging off the hand on his shoulder.

"It wasn't great, but it's been years. I can't avoid hospitals for my entire life because I have bad memories of them. I mean, who hasn't?"

His cavalier attitude was apparently too convincing, because Naruto asked him to accompany Suigetsu and Karin to the hospital the next day.

* * *

**AN: **Again, thank you to everyone reviewing, ESPECIALLY those who review daily! *_* It actually really helps me edit because it gives me a good idea of what readers are thinking. So... you rule!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for this chapter:**  
_Mochi _are japanese ricecakes. I don't really care for them.

* * *

**Roots and Seeds**

As soon as visiting hours began Karin, Suigetsu and Sasuke piled into Kimimaro's room. Karin had brought a bouquet of flowers and some _mochi_, while Suigetsu had brought in some translated_ manga_ that he thought Kimimaro could read to pass the time. A nurse came in to ask if Sasuke could act as an official translator, given the lack of other suitable candidates and as Kimimaro acquiesced, Sasuke had to leave to sign a few forms outside.

"When do you think you'll be discharged?" Karin asked as Sasuke reentered. The gifts were laid on the beside table and their bright colours made Kimimaro seem paler by comparison. "It could be today!"

"It depends on the test result," Kimimaro said, reading the back of one of the manga. "What's been happening on the farm?"

Sasuke had a peculiar feeling of wasting time, but not knowing exactly why. Although the rest of the lodgers were back to work today, he was missing it again. His Japanese class the previous day had already started by the time he'd returned from the hospital, so he'd tried to study on his own but kept getting distracted. Juugo was usually good company when studying and helped him to stay focused, but Sasuke hadn't been able to find him.

The same doctor from the day before entered the room holding a chart.

"_Good morning. It says here that Mr Uchiha will be acting as official translator, is that correct?_"

"She wants to know if it's okay for me to translate," Sasuke said, finding it funny that in order to get permission from Kimimaro, the doctor still had to go through him.

"That's fine," Kimimaro said with a sigh. "This is all going to be ridiculously expensive as it is. There's no need to add to the cost." Sasuke relayed this to the doctor who nodded, then looked Karin and Suigetsu as if wondering how to ask them to leave.

Kimimaro solved the problem by doing it himself. "Guys, could you get me something hot to drink from the cafeteria? Maybe hot chocolate so I can have it with the cake."

Suigetsu and Karin got up to leave. They brushed past Sasuke on the way out and Suigetsu patted him on the shoulder.

Once they had left, the doctor glanced at Sasuke and began to speak.

"She says the test results are back," Sasuke started translating. "It is as they thought about the infection. They will give you antibiotics for that. However..." Sasuke frowned, trying to understand. "Something about the blood test. They found something else."

Kimimaro's expression didn't change as Sasuke stumbled through the translation. Somehow it was harder than yesterday, probably because he felt more pressured.

The doctor said something, but Sasuke couldn't understand it. "_I'm sorry, could you repeat that please?_" he asked. She complied, but Sasuke still couldn't make sense of it. "I don't think I know the word," he said, frustrated.

"It's fine," Kimimaro said, but Sasuke ignored him.

"It's not fine. I'm supposed to be translating for you." He addressed the doctor. "_Do you have a dictionary? I don't recognise the word."_

"Sasuke, really, don't worry, it's fine," Kimimaro started again.

"It's not," Sasuke repeated. He felt irritated with the doctor who had produced a small electronic dictionary. How could she expect him to know specialised medical terms? "Look, it's just one word I don't understand so we'll get a dictionary or something or she can try and draw it or we can call Kakashi and ask him - "

"There's no need," Kimimaro repeated. "I know what it is. Leukemia. Cancer."

Sasuke froze, just as the dictionary beeped, indicating that the word had been found. "But, you don't speak Japanese."

"No," Kimimaro agreed. "I don't."

"Leu-ki-mi-a," the doctor sounded out, reading from her dictionary. She looked at Sasuke, to clarify.

"Yeah," Sasuke said slowly. "That's it."

The doctor started talking again, taking on a sympathetic tone that was completely lost in Sasuke's wooden translation. "She says it must be a shock and you might need time - "

"It's not a shock and I don't need time," Kimimaro interrupted, putting one hand up. "Tell her I don't want treatment. I just want to know when I can leave."

In stilted Japanese, Sasuke related that back to the doctor, barely understanding what he was saying. The doctor said something, explaining that the situation was serious, and Sasuke translated Kimimaro's unconcerned reply. Finally the doctor nodded and left to get the discharge paperwork.

"You know," Sasuke said, trying to understand his own words. "You already knew." He took a step, straining to keep his gait even, and sat on the bed.

"That's why I didn't want anyone to know I was sick," Kimimaro said. His voice was even, almost soothing, and it made Sasuke irrationally angry. "I was initially diagnosed when I was a teenager and I was treated and officially in remission for two years, but a few months ago I relapsed."

"Suigetsu... does he know?"

"No." Kimimaro let out a long sigh. "I didn't want anyone to know, then or now."

"And what do you mean you don't want treatment?" Sasuke demanded, feeling lost. "Because it's expensive? Or - "

"I don't want any treatment at all," Kimimaro said. "I lived through it once, barely. When I relapsed I thought about it for a long time and I decided that I'm not going through it again on the chance that it might buy me a few more years." He kept the same smooth, almost melodic tone, completely removed from what he was saying. The scent of roses from Karin's bouquet was mingling with the faint smell of bleach that lingered in the room, and it made Sasuke feel lightheaded. "I want to spend my time the way I'd like, not suffering through pointless treatments."

"So... you're just going to..."

"Die?" Kimimaro's mouth quirked up. "We're all going to die, sooner or later, Sasuke."

* * *

Sasuke waited outside while Kimimaro spoke to Karin and Suigetsu, dealing with the discharge paperwork. From the lack of crying, he guessed that Kimimaro was omitting the cancer and just talking about the antibiotics he had to take to avoid infection. The doctors had also given him a host of vitamins and supplements to boost his immune system.

They took a taxi back, reaching the farm by late afternoon. Kimimaro gave Sasuke a vague smile as he walked back with Karin and Suigetsu. The rest of the lodgers had gone for their Japanese classes, and the open fields seemed empty underneath the grey sky. Most of the weeding had been done, Sasuke saw. The earth that had at first seemed so barren was now transformed into fertile land. They would be able to start planting soon.

Sasuke took the path between the fields, directly away from the farm. He felt exposed until he got closer to the river, where the land dipped slightly. The wind was strong, smelling of ozone, and the overcast sky turned the water a heavy grey as it ran over submerged rocks, pulling on the long muddy grasses at the river's edge.

He tried to collect his thoughts but for some reason, his mind kept going back to the hiking boots that Itachi had lent him before he died. He had brought to Japan the first time. Any time he wore them he had kept thinking about how strange it was been to be walking where Itachi had been. Those shoes had been like a holy relic to him; another connection to his brother that he didn't want to lose.

Eventually he settled on the bank of the river, on a moderately dry patch of grass. His nose and fingers started to hurt from the cold, but he felt too heavy to move. By the time Naruto arrived, he might as well have been a boulder, embedded into the soil.

"How did you know I was here?" Sasuke asked as Naruto eased down next to him. For some reason, it was a surprise to look up and see him. Sasuke had expected to see the Naruto he'd known ten years ago.

"I thought I saw you disappeared off the path." Naruto said, stretching his legs out so the soles of his shoes nearly reached the waters' edge. "You weren't in the bunkhouse, so I figured you had to be out here somewhere."

Sasuke nodded absently. "Hey, Naruto. Do you remember those hiking boots I had?"

"Yeah? The ones that belonged to Itachi, right? You were pretty attached to them." Naruto smiled to himself at the memory, and Sasuke almost smiled too. Thought it made no sense, it was a comfort to know that someone else remembered that.

"They're too small now," Sasuke said. "Packed up somewhere in a box, probably." Saying that brought him abruptly back to reality and he let out a shaky breath, dropping his head into his hands. "Jesus, Naruto."

"Did something bad happen?" Naruto asked. "Kimimaro's back now and Karin and Suigetsu seem fine..."

"He has cancer," Sasuke muttered, staring across the river. "He relapsed last year and he decided not to get treated. He didn't tell Suigetsu or Karin, but I know, because I was translating for the doctor." He drew a hand through his hair. "I felt like a complete outsider and I wish I hadn't been there. But I was, and now I know." He glanced at Naruto. "And now you know too, sorry. I'm sure that breaks my contract as translator."

"That's... a lot to digest," Naruto said. He opened his mouth and closed it again as he digested the information. "It's not your fault."

He rubbed Sasuke's back and it was the touch, not his words, that was enough to pass through the layers of cold and stone. The warmth was so pleasant that Sasuke let it go on, even though he felt guilty about getting any comfort from Naruto. He was so absorbed that he didn't notice when the rubbing became an arm around him, pulling him up against Naruto's side so they shared body heat. Their kisses were warm and soft. Comfort kisses. There was no question of escalating, and when Sasuke turned to pull Naruto closer, it was just to be closer and nothing else.

* * *

**AN: **thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review. Your feedback is really awesome and helps me a lot with editing. There are about four more parts, but they will be action-packed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for this chapter:**  
_Kyoto _is a beautiful, traditional city, south west of Tokyo. It is very popular amongst tourists because of its many shrines and temples.  
_Yukata_ are like simple kimono, but much cheaper and less formal. They can be worn for traditional occasions, or just as a bathrobe.  
_Kimono _are traditional formal Japanese garments. That's what geisha wear. They are very heavy, expensive and intricate. Men can also wear Kimono, but theirs are quite different.  
_Maiko _are trainee geisha.  
_Ken Watanabe _is really quite attractive.

* * *

**Roots and Seeds**

As if closing a chapter, in the next few days the weather changed, sweetening into a cheerful Spring that was full of promise. With Kimimaro's return to health, things settled down but Sasuke couldn't help but feel guilty. He'd spoken to Naruto about it a few times and he knew it wasn't his fault, but he still felt awkward around Karin and Suigetsu. In the end, he decided that if he were in Kimimaro's position, he would want his decision to be respected, and left it at that.

With the temperature rising, Kakashi announced that they could begin planting. Following a few nights of rain that had caused the river's water level to rise, they spent a few days preparing the rice fields for flooding,

"Did you go for another walk last night?" Naruto asked one morning as Sasuke walked along the dykes, checking the flowthrough gates between each field were open to ensure they would fill properly. The rest of the group had finished up for the day but Sasuke found the concept of flooding a rice paddy fascinating. He had missed it the first time he was here, because of a torrent of rain that came overnight. This time the flooding was more gradual and he wanted to see as much of it as possible.

"I didn't go anywhere last night," Sasuke said. "Just did some studying."

"Really?" Naruto didn't seem convinced as he batted at a group of hoverfly. "I was in the den at about eight and you weren't there. Juugo said you'd left."

"Oh, then." Sasuke shrugged. He had slipped out to use the phone, having established a once a week routine. "I went to the main house to talk to Kakashi."

"Kakashi wasn't even home last night," Naruto said, frowning. "He went out drinking with a group of the farmers from around here. Listen," he raised his voice so Sasuke could hear him over the gentle cascades of water, "it's not safe to walk around in the dark at night. You could get lost or hurt. It's dangerous."

When Sasuke just hummed, Naruto's frown turned into an all out scowl. "Fine, go rambling around in the middle of the night and trip over a frog and break your leg. See if I care." He crossed his arms and turned away. "Anyway, are you looking forward to the weekend?"

"Why, is something happening?" Sasuke asked, watching a duck land on the river bank and waddle into the water.

"Don't you ever read the noticeboard?" Naruto huffed. "We're going to _Kyoto_. Kakashi got us tickets to watch a group of _maiko_ perform. We'll get some Japanese culture and the food should be good too, so it'll be a treat after the stress of last week."

"Sounds good."

It seemed like Sasuke was the only one who hadn't read the noticeboard because everyone else already seemed to know about it. Karin spent half an hour telling him how much she was looking forward to it.

"I've always wanted to see a _geisha_ performance since I saw that film with Ken Watanabe. It was so beautiful," she said, expression dreamy.

Inari was also excited. Naruto had lent him an English book about _geisha_ and he kept relaying what he felt was interesting information to the rest of the group.

On the Friday night they took the night bus down to Tokyo. Kimimaro and his friends wanted to go to an anime convention so they left the group there, leaving Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Kurenai, Inari, Juugo, Karin and Suigetsu to get the train down to Kyoto. Further south it was much warmer than in _Niigata_, and Sasuke enjoyed watching the scenery change as they got closer to Kyoto.

Kakashi had booked them into an inn on the outskirts of the city.

"Because it's cheaper," Naruto said. "But I'm not complaining, because this is the first time he's offered to cover a weekend trip, no matter how cheap it is."

After dropping their things off at the inn, the group was left to explore the city, before the performance in the evening.

Kyoto's cobbled streets were as picture perfect as Sasuke remembered. The traditional style buildings and shops were backed by a brilliant blue sky, and Karin took half a dozen photographs on her camera in the first few minutes.

Naruto took them to _To-ji_ Temple since it was the closest to the centre, and the group posed for pictures with the landmark pagoda.

"Are you sure you got a picture of me with the temple in the background?" Karin asked, grabbing the camera from Suigetsu's hand. "I knew it! You cut it out again! And the lighting is all wrong. Try and take it from the other side." Somehow Suigetsu kept making mistakes so that it seemed as though they wouldn't never get any further, until Naruto volunteered to take the photograph, to everyone's relief.

Sasuke watched the people walking up and down. Unlike in _Niigata_, a group of foreigners here didn't stand out, even when they were as loud as Karin.

"It's almost like a film set, isn't it?" said Inari, dropping back from the rest of the group to join Sasuke. "Everyone here is modern, but the setting is like something from a story."

"Yeah, it's quite something," Sasuke said, admiring a nearby cherry blossom tree. "We're lucky to see it in the spring, although it looks good in the autumn as well when the leaves turn."

They went right up to the shrine and rang the bell, before heading around to see the grounds. The well kept gardens were busy with people buying and selling and the lawns were covered in all types of products, ranging from vegetables to antique furniture.

"As you can see, our timing is excellent because there's a flea market on today," Naruto announced, letting the group disperse to look around at the wares.

"You didn't have a clue that there would be a flea-market, did you?" Sasuke said.

"Nope!" Naruto gave him a wide grin. "Now come on, I remember that you look pretty awesome in Japanese style dress so what do you say we get you something?"

The last time Sasuke had visited Kyoto they hadn't encountered a flea-market, so perusing the wares in the open air with the sun hitting the back of his neck, was a novel experience. They passed Karin haggling over a lacquer comb while Suigetsu and Juugo stood back, and picked Inari up on their way.

"I'm glad I found you guys," Inari said as they sorted through neatly folded piles of clothes, looking for a _yukata_ that Sasuke would like. "I was completely lost."

"Inari you were about ten metres away from Suigetsu," Naruto pointed out, picking up a yukata that was orange. "Hey, what about this one for me?"

"You already have a _yukata_," Sasuke said without thinking. "The green one you put on in the mornings."

Naruto nearly dropped the _yukata_ he'd been holding, glancing nervously at Inari, and then back at Sasuke, his face turning red. Likewise, Sasuke realised what he had said and pressed his lips together, trying to think of _other things_.

"Hey, what about this one? Or is black too dark?" Inari shoved a folded _yukata_ towards them. "Hey, what's up with you two? Did something happen?"

"No," Sasuke said quickly. "Nothing. Black is good, you should get it."

"Really?" Inari asked, giving a wide smile as he looked at the simple pattern. "I've always wanted my own and it's cheaper than a _kimono_."

"You should definitely get it," Naruto said.

In the end, Sasuke also bought a deep blue _yukata_ with a black pattern coming up from the hem, ignoring Naruto's insistence that he should get a proper _kimono_.

"They're too expensive and I'd never wear it," Sasuke said as he paid the vendor who wrapped up his purchase.

"But it'd look really good," Naruto whined.

"What would look good?" Karin appeared with the others in tow. Sasuke noticed that although her hands were free, Suigetsu and Juugo were carrying a lot of shopping.

"Sasuke if he wore a _kimono_," Naruto said, glaring at Sasuke.

"Ooh, definitely," Karin said, giving Sasuke an appreciative once over. Naruto looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected Karin to agree with him.

Unnerved, Sasuke decided to do a round of the gardens alone, but quickly bumped into Kurenai. She had bought an ornamental parasol and was using it to shield from the afternoon sun. Despite her modern clothes, with the parasol and her long dark hair falling freely, she fitted well into the traditional setting.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked as they walked at a gentle pace. Kurenai's free hand rested on her belly, but she didn't seem burdened. Instead, there was a light smile on her face.

"I asked him to buy me a bottle of water," she said. "His constant shadowing can be irritating." Sasuke pretended to be absorbed in admiring an antique clock to avoid having to reply. "Asuma would have loved this."

For a second, Sasuke thought she had said _Asuna_ and had to remind himself that there was no way she knew and he had just misheard. "Asuma?"

"My husband," Kurenai said lightly. She opened her purse and drew out a photograph that she admired for a moment before passing to Sasuke. "He always wanted to come to Japan to visit. He loved watching those old samurai films and constantly tried to make me sit through them."

Sasuke took the photograph, holding it carefully. It looked like it was taken in a park, although he could see high-rise buildings in the background. A not pregnant Kurenai was being held lovingly by an older man with a stubbly beard. His arms were around her waist, and her hands rested on top of them. They were both smiling, though Kurenai looked as though the man had whispered a joke in her ear and she was struggling not to laugh. Standing to the side and glaring at the couple was a boy that looked familiar.

"Is that Shikamaru?"

"Yes. He was a teenager when I met Asuma. He's warmed up since then, but I think he resented having to share his father." She rubbed her belly thoughtfully. "And that his last link to his father is through me."

"He must like you if he came here with you?"

Kurenai gave him an oblique smile. "I wonder."

"It's a nice photograph." Sasuke handed back the photo, not really knowing what to say. "You look happy."

"That was years ago," Kurenai said with a sigh. "A few months after we'd first met, but even years later, we were still happy, if you can believe it."

Sasuke noticed that the peaceful look on her face remained for the rest of the walk back, and thought that maybe it wasn't so hard to believe.

The sun was setting as they left the Temple grounds. Naruto led them through winding narrow streets, insisting he knew a good place to eat, and eventually they reached a traditional style restaurant and ducked under the flaps to enter.

As they were shown to a table, Sasuke admired the interior. In a central area the chefs worked with casual seating around the counter. The ceiling was low and supported by wooden beams, giving a cosy atmosphere. The customers were mainly locals and a few of them looked at the group with interest. Sasuke supposed they looked like a strange bunch. Karin and Suigetsu had fallen into an unnecessarily touchy moody, while Juugo sat next to them with a detached expression. From this angle, with the way the shadows fell on his features, he almost looked threatening. Then Inari was the typical overly enthusiastic student, already with his guide to Kyoto out, analysing everything they'd just seen. Kurenai was sitting next to him, and looking tired from all the walking. Shikamaru was acting her shadow and making no effort to converse with anyone else. And then there was Naruto, who was grinning at him for some reason.

"What?" Sasuke asked as the waiter came to take their orders.

Naruto asked for a bowl of _kitsune ramen_ and then carried on grinning at Sasuke. "Doesn't this look _familiar_ to you?"

Sasuke took another look around, and then back to Naruto. "Is this the same place?"

"Yup!" Naruto. "Fear my amazing navigation skills."

"You guys have been here before?" Inari asked, leaning across the table.

"When we both stayed on the farm the first time, we took a trip down to Kyoto because our favourite Japanese rock band was playing, and we came to this restaurant," Naruto said. "Hey, remember how awesome that concert was?"

"I'd completely forgotten about that," Sasuke said, surprised at himself. "I used to love them. Now I couldn't tell you the last time I heard one of their songs." He laughed and Naruto gave him an odd, almost sad smile that he didn't know how to interpret.

The food was delicious and presented on beautiful lacquerware plates. After they had finished eating there was still time before the show started, so they ordered a round of _sake_ to finish off the meal.

While Naruto and the others were puzzling on how to split the bill, because Naruto insisted that Kakashi should pay for some of it, but he didn't know how much, Sasuke slipped off to use the bathroom.

He was washing his hands when Shikamaru came in. Sasuke nodded at him, closing the tap and shaking his hands off.

"Is your friend okay?"

Sasuke paused, looking at Shikamaru oddly. "Naruto? What would be wrong with him?"

"Not him." Shikamaru gave him an unimpressed look. "Obviously your boyfriend is fine. I mean the other one. Juugo."

At the mention of _boyfriend_ Sasuke froze. It took a moment for him to appreciate exactly what had been said. "Why do you think something's wrong with Juugo?"

"He doesn't sleep." Shikamaru said, giving Sasuke an assessing look. His accent was a lot lighter than Kurenai's - almost unnoticeable. "Sometimes I look at him and he looks... different. There's something dangerous about him."

"Dangerous?" Sasuke frowned. "How? And what do you mean he doesn't sleep?"

"Just what I said. I'd keep an eye on him, if I were you." Shikamaru moved away from the wall, walking casually towards the door. "Because if anything happens to the baby, or to Kurenai..." He let the threat hang in the air for a moment, before leaving.

Sasuke watched the wooden door swing slide shut behind him. He stayed in the bathroom for a minute more, then left. He didn't want them to be late to the performance.

* * *

The lights dimmed and a few isolated notes from a shamisen broke through the expectant silence. The spotlight on stage turned on, illuminating three _maiko_ posed coyly, looking away from the audience. As the music began in earnest, sounding like the the rippling of a river, the girls slid into a delicate, precise dance. They glided across the stage, the hems of their intricate kimono's hardly moving. Under the lights, the coloured silk and embroidery was even more stunning. Aside from the music, there was no sound as the audience sat in rapt silence.

Sasuke looked along the row of seats, watching as the others enjoyed the performance. In any other circumstances, he would have enjoyed it too, but his mind kept returning to what Shikamaru had said.

Under the cover of the dimmed lights, Sasuke shot a glance at Juugo, who was watching the dancing like everyone else. His expression was of sincere interest as he watched the maiko move gracefully around the stage. What did Shikamaru's comment even mean? So what if Juugo was a light sleeper. If he woke up in the night, it was probably because of noise coming from Suigetsu's bunk. Sasuke was lucky that he slept too deeply to notice unless he was already naturally waking up.

It wasn't what he'd said, Sasuke decided as the _maiko_ finished in kneeling positions, giving the audience a full bow. It was the way he said. He'd seemed so certain.

* * *

"The _maiko_ were so beautiful," Karin sighed as they returned to the inn. "I wish I could be a _geisha_. They're so talented and elegant."

"Whereas you're just noisy and annoying," Suigetsu said."You've been talking non-stop about _geisha_ for the last half hour."

"I am not!" Karin gave Suigetsu a sharp punch in the shoulder and abandoned him, joining on to where Sasuke was walking with Naruto. "What did _you_ think of the performance, Sasuke?"

"It was good," Sasuke said, looking at Naruto for help and only managing to intercept a glare aimed at Karin.

"I loved it too," Karin said, giving him a coy smile.

"Okay guys," Naruto interrupted, raising his voice so the whole group could hear. "Before you go to bed, I have one last treat for you."

The group quietened, wanting to hear what the treat was, and Naruto drank up the attention, giving them a bright smile. "This inn... has its own _onsen_!"

"That's so awesome," Karin said. She leaned towards Sasuke. "You know, the water in onsen is really good for your skin." Sasuke gave her a flat look.

"If you want to take a bath, you should take the yukata and towel provided in your room," Naruto instructed. "We have to get up early tomorrow, so don't stay awake too long."

Shikamaru and Juugo went straight to bed, but Sasuke, along with Naruto, Suigetsu and Inari, chose to visit the bath.

The onsen had a typical washing station and a room for sauna, but the largest pool was outdoors. Its dark waters sent steam up into the night sky, with the edge surrounded by roughly hewn rocks and a bamboo wall erected for privacy.

Though it was warmer in Kyoto that _Niigata_, the night air still held a chill and Sasuke was glad to get into the hot water, sinking up to his shoulders and resting his head on the side. The air smelt of sulphur and jasmine.

"Wow, what a view," Suigetsu said, admiring the sky as he got in next to Sasuke. There was a slosh Naruto and Inari also slid in. "The Japanese know how to relax."

Sasuke hummed, closing his eyes. On the other side of the bath Naruto and Inari began discussing the temple they had visited in low tones.

"It's fascinating... different Gods and offerings for each..." Sasuke heard Inari say, and gave a sigh of relief that he had chosen to ambush Naruto and not him.

"Sasuke?"

He opened one eye to see Suigetsu looking at him. He was stretched out with his head pillowed in his arms that rested on the side of the bath. His normally styled hair was limp in the water ,but he seemed perfectly at home and carried on talking once he saw he had Sasuke's attention. "Are you married?"

"I was," Sasuke said with a frown. He sank back in the water, aiming to deter conversation.

"But you're not anymore," Suigetsu said, almost to himself. He tapped his fingers on the granite rim of the bath. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"I suppose," Sasuke said, giving him a dark glare. "I'm not available, if that's what you're asking."

Suigetsu laughed quietly, making little ripples in the water. "Calm down, I'm not trying to pick you up."

"Good," Sasuke groused. "You have Karin, afterall."

"Heh, I wonder sometimes," Suigetsu said. He hummed, flicking the water with his fingertips for a moment before speaking. "You know I said we've been dating for four years, but actually we broke up for a while after her first year of university. I showed up there to surprise her and found out she was cheating on me with one of her professors." He made a vague gesture towards Sasuke. "He kind of looked like you, so when I saw her tonight, I thought..."

"I'm not interested in Karin," Sasuke said bluntly. "At all."

"I know that," Suigetsu said with a shrug. "It's pretty obvious. I just sometimes wonder. I know we fight all the time, but when I think of the future, she's the one I want to end up with. Sometimes I wonder if that's what she thinks about me, or it's just that I'm familiar. She pays more attention to Juugo than me, and I'm supposed to be her boyfriend."

"Four years is a long time to spend with someone just because they're familiar."

"I guess."

They fell into mullish silence and Sasuke watched thin wisps of cloud move over the star filled sky until he felt his fingers start to prune.

"I asked her to marry me before we came to Japan," Suigetsu said as they got out, not looking in Sasuke's direction. "She said she needed time to think." He rolled his shoulders. "I just wonder: how much can you love someone if after four years, you still need time to think?"

* * *

**AN: **Thank you again to everyone reviewing. This story genuinely wouldn't be half as good without your input.

I got a guest review today with some suggestions, which were completely polite and friendly, but as it wasn't signed I'll just address it here. I tend to write intimate scenes to the amount of detail that I feel is necessary for the reader to understand whatever they need to understand, and I guess I go for less is more, because in fandom, most authors go for more is more. I might have gotten a bit lazy, however, and I don't want those scenes to seem like I'm rushing or skipping them so I'll have a think :). Thanks for giving me your input!


	9. Chapter 9

**Roots and Seeds**

The days grew longer with generous sunshine interspersed with heavy rain. The rice paddies flooded completely and the croak of bullfrogs filled the afternoon air. After returning from Kyoto, they planted sweet potatoes, beans and peas, as well as transplanting the rice seedlings into the bed.

The night was clammy and hot, even though Sasuke could hear rain through the open window where a few errant drops splattered on the tatami. He thought about getting up to close the window, but the room was already too warm. Next to him, squeezed onto the futon, Naruto was half asleep. His hand was on Sasuke's side, running up and over his ribs, then down to stroke his hip in slow, relaxing strokes that sent the occasional shiver up his spine.

A distant rumble caused Naruto to shift, pressing his face into Sasuke's shoulder.

"Thunder." Sasuke felt Naruto's lips move against his skin, curving up into a smile. "Are you scared?"

"Yes," Sasuke said. "The power will probably go out like it used to. Or what if lightning strikes the house and we burn to death? The entire building is made of wood."

"Not a bad way to go," Naruto said, shifting his leg between Sasuke's, as if to make a point. He gave Sasuke's shoulder a light kiss before propping himself up and admiring him for a moment. Naruto's expression was playful, a frustrating mix of attractive and silly and Sasuke couldn't decide if it irritated him or not. "Hey, Sasuke..."

"Yes?"

"When we're like this," he drew a finger down from the swell of Sasuke's shoulder, skittering over his collar bone and tracing the light indent of his breastbone. "You know. Together. I sometimes wonder..." He seemed to lose focus, instead dipping his head down to explore Sasuke's chest with the flat of his tongue.

Sasuke left him for a few seconds, before gently pushing his head up. "Sometimes wonder what?"

Naruto frowned at him, seeming to have trouble recalling what they were talking about. "Just wonder... It's funny isn't it? How we met and then we met again, all these years later?" Naruto shrugged, giving Sasuke a smile. "It's almost like it was meant to be."

"You think there's some higher purpose for this?" Sasuke said, smiling as well. "Or maybe we're soulmates?"

"Tied together by fate," Naruto said, pushing Sasuke's hair out of his face and looking at him with open appreciation. "I really didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"Yet here I am."

"Yes." Naruto smiled, lowering himself down and letting his free hand skim over Sasuke's belly and rest on his upper thigh. "Here you are." He left his fingers come up to touch the skin at the juncture between leg and body, scratching at it lightly before dipping down to suck.

Sasuke took a deep breath, carding his fingers through Naruto's hair to give him something to do. There was a curious isolation that came when he was in bed with Naruto, tucked away in his room at the top of the house. Everything around them fell away and he could just be himself, without worrying about his other responsibilities. It let him remember what it felt like to be young.

"Hey." Naruto's glaring face was flushed as he nipped at Sasuke's inner thigh and then sucked on the bite. Sasuke hissed, half in pleasure and half anticipation and shifted his knees up to curl more around Naruto. "Are you paying attention?"

Sasuke smirked, catching his breath. "Why, were you doing something?"

"Was I doing something?" Naruto grumbled. "You should be so lucky." He traced his nails over Sasuke's abdomen, smiling when he saw the muscles flutter beneath the skin. "Pay attention this time."

Afterwards, Naruto rested on his side with one hand spread across Sasuke's stomach. "I guess you didn't check the noticeboard," Naruto said, breaking Sasuke out of the light doze he'd fallen into.

"Why bother when you always remind me?" Sasuke asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"Ha ha," Naruto said, drumming his fingers against the warm skin beneath them. "We're taking the group photograph tomorrow, before everyone leaves. Kurenai, Shikamaru, all of Suigetsu's group. It'll only be Inari left."

"They're going already?" Sasuke opened his eyes, frowning.

"Yeah, they were only staying for three months," Naruto said, shifting to get more comfortable. Outside, a roll of thunder rose and then broke and faded away. "Sasuke? Hey, you're not falling asleep on me are you? Did I tire you out?"

"You wish."

"If you say so," Naruto teased. He leaned across to nip at Sasuke's jaw.

"Hey, can I stay the night?"

Naruto paused, looking up at Sasuke in surprise. "Of course you can! You're always welcome to stay. You know that." He gave Sasuke a bemused smile and brushed a thumb over his temple. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing." Sasuke caught Naruto's hand and squeezed it for a moment before letting it go. "I wasn't thinking anything." Naruto laughed at him.

"If you want to stay, then stay." He gave Sasuke a fond look before settling back down next to him and bringing their bodies together. He reached down to pull up the sheet from where it had tangled around their legs, and then put an arm around Sasuke.

As Sasuke drifted off to sleep, lulled by the soft breaths on the back of his neck and gentle tap of rain, he wondered if it really was that simple.

* * *

"So you're leaving?" Sasuke passed Kurenai a small spade, grabbing a watering can from the shed. The morning sun was warm though it was early in the day and they had yet to begin work.

"Yes, next week," Kurenai said, walking with Sasuke to a patch of land that had been cleared to grow transplant peppers. In the last week, Kurenai's belly had swelled even further and her gait was slower, though still graceful. She tipped the wide brim of her sunhat up to smile at Sasuke. "How long are you staying for?"

"I'm not sure," Sasuke said, kneeling down and beginning to mark out furrows. "I'm not sure how much longer I can stay." He looked across the open field where the others were working, scattered across the land. "I sometimes can't imagine that there's anything else but this. It seems impossible that while we're here, our whole lives back home just keep going on."

"I understand." Kurenai smiled in a way that made Sasuke feel very young. "For me, it's better to return now. Any longer and Shikamaru might have a heart attack. He's making himself mad worrying so much about the baby." Something must have showed in Sasuke's expression because she was quick to defend. "He's just grieving. I think he feels like if the baby is okay, he still has one part of Asuma."

"Do you feel like you're ready to go back?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"I think so," Kurenai breathed deeply, taking a moment to admire the landscape. "Asuma and I always planned to come here together. Without him it's been like a long goodbye, and now I feel ready to go home."

Maybe it was his conversation with Kurenai, or maybe something else, but Sasuke found himself lingering that evening on the phone, just enjoying the sound of Asuna's voice as she talked about her day.

Another storm was rumbling close by and it covered up the sky. Sasuke had turned on the light to no effect and assumed a blown out bulb. What little light came in through the window reflected dimly off the wooden surfaces and cast enough shadow for him to see by. His input into the conversation was minimal as Asuna always had enough to say on her own. Sasuke found his attention caught by the noticeboard that Kakashi and Naruto used to organise themselves. Each of the lodgers was just a little mark on that chart that could be switched with one another and cause no difference. At the end of the year the calendar would be replaced with a new, fresh one, and there would be no proof that they had ever been there except the photographs on the wall. So it had been for Itachi, for Sasuke and Naruto, and now for Sasuke once again.

_"Are you listening?"_

"Of course I am," Sasuke said, turning away from the cartoons and scribbled handwriting to lean against the wall.

_"When are you coming home?"_

"Soon."

_"You always say that..."_

"But I really mean it this time. Really soon."

"_Alright.._." Sasuke felt his stomach squirm in guilt as he heard the scepticism in her voice. "_I love you_."

"I love you too," Sasuke said. "I'll see you soon. Bye."

He replaced the phone it its cradle on the wall and sighed, closing his eyes and listening to the heavy fall of rain outside. He felt that he was being pulled in two directions and he wasn't going to be able to ignore that fact for much longer.

"'See you soon', huh?"

Sasuke turned sharply to see Naruto standing in the doorway. He almost smiled, meeting Sasuke's gaze. "I've been wondering for a while where you keep disappearing to. Maybe if I was smarter I would have figured it out faster. You can't leave the farm at night, there's nowhere to go. You obviously weren't taking a walk. If you weren't in the bunkhouse, then you had to be here."

"Naruto, I - "

"You never wanted to talk before," Naruto said, raising his voice over Sasuke's. "Whenever I brought up your life, you changed the subject and I let you because I thought eventually you'd open up."

"Naruto," Sasuke tried again, but was interrupted by a knock, and then the sound of the door sliding back.

"Mr Hatake?" Inari stepped into the kitchen and blinked as he spotted Sasuke and Naruto. "Hey, is Mr Hatake here? The power has gone out in the bunkhouse."

"He's out," Naruto said shortly. "There are some candles under the sink and I'll get a few lanterns we can use." He glanced at Sasuke. "You should help Inari."

He disappeared back into the house and Sasuke knew that given the amount of clutter, without light there was no point in chasing him. Instead he waited while Inari collected the candles and then followed him outside. It took longer than usual to reach the bunkhouse because of the poor lighting, and by the time they got inside Sasuke's shirt was damp with rain. The lodgers had gathered in the den. In the weak light afforded from outside, it was almost impossible to tell them all apart. Sasuke and Inari quickly lit a few of the long white candles and set them in dishes along the hallway and in the den, to be used as makeshift lamps.

The atmosphere was of playful drama with Kimimaro and his friends trying to scare each other and offering to tell ghost stories. Suigetsu and Karin were arguing about a joke that Suigetsu had made. Sasuke was laying the last candle down on the dining table when Shikamaru strode into the middle of the den holding a candle and looking slowly around the room.

"Where's Kurenai?" His voice cut through the hubbub and Sasuke felt something icy settle in his stomach as he followed Shikamaru's gaze. Though their their features were sharp and exaggerated in the wavering candlelight, he could easily identify each of them. Kurenai wasn't there.

"She could be in the showerblock," Sasuke said, seeing the look of determination that settled on Shikamaru's features.

"She's not. I've just come from there." He looked at Sasuke, eyes glowing from the candle. "Juugo isn't here either."

From the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Karin flinch and Suigetsu lean towards her, whispering something. His blood quickened as the warning from Kyoto that had lurked at the bottom of his mind suddenly pushed to the forefront.

"Everyone stay in here," he said, raising his voice. "Shikamaru and I will look for Kurenai. Naruto should be here soon."

They went into the hall and first checked the girls' bunkroom. It was dark when they pushed back the door and they had to use the light of their candles as they walked through the rows of beds to avoid tripping over clothes or cases spread across the floor.

"It's empty." Sasuke had reached the last row without seeing any sign of movement but the wavering shadows thrown by the candle.

"There was no one in the showerblock," Shikamaru replied tightly. They walked back to the hallway and stood in front of the door to the boy's bunkroom. Sasuke slowly rolled back the door.

Though the candle cast a bright glow enough to see by and there was a little residual light from those set in the hallway, everything outside of the shaky circle was impossible to make out. The windows high up on the wall let through a dim, grey light, but it didn't reach far. As they stepped inside, Sasuke thought he heard a sound somewhere between a whimper and a gasp.

"Let's stay together." Sasuke left the door open to grant what little light the candles in the hallway could afford.

"If he's in here, he'll be able to see better than us," Shikamaru murmured, keeping his back towards Sasuke and holding the candle steady. They walked down the first row slowly, the light from the candles revealing unmade beds, cluttered chests of drawers and clothes slung carelessly around. Surrounded by an unknown darkness, they seemed to hold their own secrets.

They reached the end of the first row and checked the corner, finding it empty. Across the room, Sasuke heard something shift and his gaze met Shikamaru's. By tacit agreement they skipped the next row and moved towards the opposite wall. A flash of lightning illuminated the room for a split second, too fast for Sasuke to register anything. It was followed with a low roll of thunder and the sound of heavy rain hitting the roof. As they reached the far wall, Sasuke could hear breathing. A tight inhale, hinging on a pained sound, and then a shaky, short exhale.

Shikamaru stopped two metres away from the last bunk with his eyes fixed on something on the floor. Sasuke looked down to see it was a slick, dark smudge on the wooden floorboards, pulling away from them, like an arrow. Sasuke's mouth was dry as he lifted his candle up, letting the light fall to the corner.

Kurenai lay in a fetal position, as if she had curled around herself to protect the baby. A tremor ran through her body and she twitched as she recognised Sasuke and Shikamaru. Her eyes were white and wild like a horse that was desperate to bolt but unable to. Behind her, the hulking shadow sharpened into Juugo. He knelt as though poised to spring, one hand caressing the swell of Kurenai's stomach gently, in a parody of concern.

"Get away from her," Shikamaru said, face twisted up in anger. "Stand up and walk away."

"Shhhhh." The sound that came from Juugo's mouth made Sasuke think of burning. "I was just calming her down. Stress isn't good for the baby." His voice was different; the inflection was uncontrolled and affected. It jumped up and down with no clear pattern.

"Let her go," Shikamaru repeated. The patch of light around Juugo wavered as the hand Shikamaru held the candle with began to shake.

"It's night," Juugo said with a sly smile. "I can do whatever I want to when it's night. During the daytime, he locks me away. He tries so very hard." His eyes glinted as he turned to assess Sasuke, hand still touching Kurenai. "But it doesn't always work."

"He's insane," Sasuke whispered.

"Not insane," Juugo said immediately, shaking his head. "There's just two us in here." He smiled down at Kurenai. "Just like in there." She shook, bending her knees as if trying to tuck around herself.

"Kurenai, are you okay?" Sasuke asked. Her entire body was tense as she gave a short nod.

"She walked in on us arguing," Juugo cut in. "She was scared and tried to run but she fell and hit her head." A shadow passed over his expression and for a moment, he lost his playful demeanour and looked frustrated. "I'm just trying to calm her down."

Sasuke studied Juugo's movements and expression carefully, trying to judge how best to approach him. From what he was saying, Sasuke thought there was some sort of logic to his actions, however twisted it was. He could see a dark gash near Kurenai's hairline and felt a stab of relief that the blood they had seen came from that, and not a more serious injury.

"Juugo, you did well," Sasuke said, ignoring the sharp look that Shikamaru gave him. He tried to make his voice soothing. "She's calmed down now and the baby is fine. You can let her go."

"Let her go?" Juugo spoke blankly, just echoing Sasuke's words, but it gave him hope that something he was saying was getting through.

"Because she can't lie on the floor like that," Sasuke continued, edging closer. "We need to check her wound and clear up the blood."

Sasuke knew as soon as he said it that he had made a mistake. Up until then Juugo's expression had been clearing and growing calm, but at the mention of blood it all tightened up again.

"There wasn't a lot of blood." That sinister smile spread across his features. "But it still made quite a mess."

One moment Shikamaru was across from Sasuke and the next moment he had dropped the candle and thrown himself at Juugo. The flame went out immediately and Sasuke took advantage of the confusion to dart across to Kurenai and coax her to her feet in semi-darkness. Juugo and Shikamaru hit the wall behind them with a thud, and Sasuke heard them struggling but couldn't see enough to work out what was happening.

He managed to help Kurenai up and pulled one of her arms over his shoulder to take her weight as much as possible before they started towards the open doorway. As they took a few shaky steps, all Sasuke could think about was that there were more candles in the hallway and they would be able to see properly. He could hear the shallow breaths that Kurenai was taking as she leaned most of her weight onto him.

"We're nearly there," Sasuke said, though he didn't know if he was speaking to himself or to Kurenai. He had no idea how what normally took just a few seconds could be taking so long. "Just a few more steps - "

There was a thud behind them and then quiet. Sasuke ignored it and pushed forwards. They were so close -

Something grabbed his ankle. He stumbled and released Kurenai before he fell, fearing that he could pull her down too. He landed hard on his knees and felt the grip around his ankle tighten and _pull_. Kurenai screamed and saw her terrified expression in the dim light from the hallway for a second before he was drawn back into the room. At the first stumble he had dropped the candle and as he scrambled to grab onto something to anchor him, he couldn't see anything. His fingernails scratched at the smooth floorboards, finding no traction.

"Sasuke!"

A bright light blinded him and he felt something pull him forwards towards the doorway with one strong tug. The grip on his ankle fell away and he dropped forwards onto something softer than the floor and familiar as soon as he breathed in.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke blinked, eyes adjusting as he found himself in the light from a glass lantern set on the floor made him squint as he scrambled to sit up. As his vision improved, he saw Naruto, Suigetsu, Karin and Kurenai crouched around him.

"Are you okay?" Naruto said, scanning his body as if searching for a potential injury.

"I'm fine," Sasuke said quickly. There was no sound of movement from the room behind him. "But Shikamaru is still in there."

"I don't understand," Karin said, her voice shaky. "He has bad phases but nothing like that. He's never been _dangerous_."

"I think it was the blood, and maybe the darkness," Sasuke said, looking at the drying blood on Kurenai's forehead. "He was talking about it... I think it triggered something."

"I've called an ambulance," Naruto said. He glanced at Karin's stricken expression. "And the police."

"But - "

Naruto didn't give Karin a chance to speak. "I don't have a choice. This is completely out of control and I can't take the chance that anyone else could get hurt."

"Let me at least try and talk to him," Karin begged. Sasuke expected Suigetsu to interfere but he didn't. Naruto considered it for a second.

"I'm going to get Shikamaru. You can try and reason with Juugo but stay a good distance away because as much as you want to trust your friend, in his current state he could seriously hurt you." Naruto lifted one of the lanterns and stood. Sasuke rushed to stand up, feeling light-headed as he did so.

"I'm coming with you." Before Naruto could protest he added, "I've talked to him already and I can hold the lanterns so the whole room is brighter. If you have to drop yours to get Shikamaru out, you don't want to be left in the dark."

The lanterns gave out more light than the candles and it didn't waver as much. Sasuke picked up one in each hand, remembering what Shikamaru had said about Juugo not sleeping. It seemed like all of his strange behaviour had a connection to nighttime - hadn't this entire situation been triggered by the power cutting out?

"We're coming in," Naruto said, raising his voice as he crossed the threshold. Karin followed him, holding her own lantern aloft.

There was a noise from the other side of the room and Naruto and Karin moved towards it while Sasuke headed to the corner to find Shikamaru. His stomach churned as he remembered the way he had been dragged back, but he forced himself forward.

As soon as the light fell on Shikamaru, Sasuke ran to him. He was lying on his side with his head bent back. His eyes were closed but he didn't look hurt. Sasuke set one of the lanterns down and felt his neck to find his pulse. His relief when he felt the thrum beneath his fingers was tempered as he noted long red marks around his neck. Sasuke gently patted his cheek and let out a shaky breath when Shikamaru frowned, then blinked his eyes open.

"What - " Sasuke stopped him with a gesture.

"Can you walk?"

Shikamaru looked alarmed for a second, but nodded. He sat up, looking around the room. "Where's Kurenai?"

"She's fine." Sasuke kept his voice low. "We're going to her now." He supported Shikamaru in the same way he had Kurenai and after a few steps felt the man start to take his own weight. "Did you get hurt?"

"We fought," Shikamaru said. He made a frustrated sound. "It's hard to remember, it was so dark. He was much stronger than me. He threw me against the wall, I think. I didn't expect him to fight me but after I hit him it was like he just snapped."

They reached the door and the moment Shikamaru caught sight of Kurenai he broke away from Sasuke and stumbled to where she stood. Sasuke watched Shikamaru touch her shoulder tenderly for a second before he turned back to the bunkroom.

Back in the dark, Sasuke followed the domes of light to the far corner beneath the high windows, retrieving his abandoned lantern on the way. There were two other lanterns which afforded a good amount of light and he could see that Juugo had backed himself into the corner, knees pulled up to his chin looking altogether more vulnerable than he had when Sasuke had last seen him. Karin crouched about a metre away, talking to him in a soft voice.

Naruto was watching the two of them and Sasuke joined him, depositing the lanterns and further brightening the area.

"I think you were right." Naruto gestured to Karin and Juugo. "The lanterns seem to be calming him down." Even as Sasuke watched, Juugo's expression stopped flitting to the cunning, volatile face he had held with Kurenai, and settled into a bewildered look. Even so, Sasuke couldn't tell if he was really hearing anything Karin was saying.

He took a step towards them, thinking that maybe he could help speak to Juugo. The authorities would be here soon and it would be best for everyone if Juugo was at least calm enough to go quietly. A warm grip caught his wrist and then dropped it, but he still turned around.

"Be careful," Naruto said, glancing from Juugo to Sasuke. "Just... be careful."

Sasuke nodded and moved to crouch near Karin. Upon his approach, Juugo looked up and Sasuke was relieved that there was recognition in his eyes. He glanced at Karin who gave him a helpless shrug.

"He won't talk to me," she said. "But at least he's calmed down."

"This is a lot better than before," Sasuke said, looking at the way Juugo was pushing himself into the corner and ducking down as if to minimise his threat. It helped him to stay calm when his body was telling him that this was the same person who had knocked Shikamaru out and he should get the hell out of there. "Juugo," Sasuke started in a soft voice. "Are you okay?"

"Did I hurt anyone?" Juugo asked hoarsely. Karin gasped and put a hand towards him but he flinched away. "Did I?"

"Don't you remember?" Sasuke asked.

"Some of it." Juugo closed his eyes at the memories. "It's like in a dream. That's what it always felt like and a lot of the time I thought it was a dream. I wanted it to be a dream."

"What do you mean?" Karin whispered. "How long has this been going on?"

"I don't know," Juugo said bitterly. "At first I was just restless at night. But then I'd wake up in strange places. During the day it was fine and it didn't seem to be affecting me, so I just... ignored it." He shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts. "The woman - Kurenai. She's pregnant... is she okay?"

"She's fine," Sasuke said. "Just a little scared and shaken up. An ambulance will be here soon and they'll take her to check on the baby." He hesitated, but there wasn't much time. "We also had to call the police, and they'll want to talk to you."

"I understand."

"It's going to be okay," Karin said steadily. "This way you can get help. And hey, we were leaving next week anyway." That managed a ghost of a smile.

Sasuke watched as Juugo got to his feet. He seemed unsteady and Karin quickly took his arm to guide him towards the door. Naruto went ahead and Sasuke led Juugo and Karin out as quickly as possible. He kept his eyes trained on Juugo, anxious not to do or say anything that could trigger a relapse, and it was a relief as they reached the hallway.

Outside the bunkhouse it was still raining but the bright lights from the ambulance illuminated the site. Heavy drops fell from the sky, drawing a curtain between everyone and the splash of water drowned out most sound. Sasuke saw Shikamaru sitting in the back of an ambulance while a paramedic shone a light into his eyes checking for concussion. A group of the lodgers were huddled around the door and watched unashamedly as the three of them stepped out.

Naruto jogged up as soon as he saw them. "The police are around the front - I've explained what's going on and told them you're willing to cooperate." Juugo nodded his assent and they walked briskly to where the police car waited in front of the main house.

"Suigetsu and I will come and meet you at the police station," Karin said as Juugo was guided into the car. "Just cooperate with them as much as you can."

One police officer introduced himself and asked Sasuke a few questions and he answered as best he could although he kept struggling to find the right words. Naruto helped him, not only by filling in the gaps in his story and helping him when he had problems with the language, but by simply being there. He hadn't realised how much comfort he was taking from having Naruto at his side, until he felt him move away and balked, just stopping himself from grabbing at his t-shirt.

"You're going with him?" Sasuke asked quickly.

"I have go, they'll need a translator," Naruto said. "And I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to go with the ambulance and translate for Kurenai and Shikamaru."

"Okay," Sasuke said. "But afterwards, we need to talk. I need to talk to you."

"Alright." Naruto nodded slowly. Sasuke thought for a second, that he might kiss him right there in the rain, with the blinking blue lights swirling around them, but he didn't. Instead he just walked around the car and ducked inside.

* * *

The doctors saw Kurenai first and Sasuke waited with Shikamaru while she underwent a full scan. They wanted to do a few checks to ensure the baby was fine, and although Shikamaru was a little groggy from being unconscious, he hadn't lost his over-protective nature and insisted that Kurenai was seen first and so kept Sasuke company while he struggled with the paperwork.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Sasuke wondered out loud, as they sat in the plastic chairs and waited.

"No," Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes. "But I was worried that something could happen. Kurenai would say I'm paranoid."

"You knew there was something wrong with Juugo," Sasuke pointed out.

"Not really." Shikamaru shifted in the chair, stretching himself out. "I just noticed that he didn't always act like himself. Sometimes the girl would be trying to calm him down and sometimes he'd just disappear completely."

"I didn't notice," Sasuke said, staring at the wall ahead of him. "I didn't even realise he wasn't sleeping properly."

"You had your own distractions. And you weren't sleeping in your own bed most of the time, anyway."

Sasuke glared, but Shikamaru didn't seem to be teasing so he let it go. A nurse passed them, pushing a trolley laden with meal trays and the receptionist came over to clarify one of the forms that Sasuke had filled in, explaining that he had misread one of the kanji.

A quarter of an hour passed in silence as they both considered the events of the last day. A nurse came to tell them that Kurenai and the baby were fine, but they were undergoing more tests. Finally a doctor took Shikamaru to one of the examination rooms to get an x-ray.

Sasuke had just closed his eyes for a moment when he sensed someone sit down next to him and opened his eyes to see Naruto.

"Hey." He cleared his throat and sat up properly. "What happened with Juugo?"

"They questioned him a bit but given his situation, they're just going to deport him," Naruto said, shrugging. "To be honest, that's probably for the best because he's gonna need medical help. If Shikamaru or Kurenai want to press charges, they can."

"Are Karin and Suigetsu okay?"

"I think so. They're just still really shaken. I think they both knew something was wrong, but had no idea it could go this badly." Naruto rubbed his face with his hands. "I guess none of us did. They're back at the farm now. Karin seemed upset on the ride back, but Suigetsu said it was because they broke up."

"What? Now?" Sasuke asked. "Why?"

"I have no idea." Naruto shrugged. "How's Kurenai?"

"Everything is fine so far, but I think they'll want to keep her overnight for observation. Shikamaru is getting his injury checked as well. He should be back soon." Sasuke met Naruto's gaze evenly. "But before he does, I need to talk to you."

"Okay," Naruto said simply. He seemed tired under the harsh hospital lighting, but the way he looked at Sasuke made him look so much like the nineteen year old Sasuke had met all those years ago that it made his chest ache.

And yet it wasn't him. It wasn't the Naruto from his memories it was a newer, different Naruto that was still unfamiliar in many ways. But Sasuke was different too - better - in ways that couldn't be ignored.

"I was talking to my daughter," Sasuke said.

Naruto stared. "What?"

Sasuke sighed, pushing his hair away from his face. "I guess I couldn't acknowledge how much things had changed. I wanted to pretend it was just as simple as it had been before. That's what I didn't tell you."

"You have a daughter," Naruto said. He didn't seem focussed on anything in particular, just tasting the words. "You have a daughter."

"Yeah."

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke with an odd intensity in his eyes. "Tell me about her?"

Taken aback by the request, Sasuke thought for a long moment before speaking. "She's seven, no, eight this year. She was born in July, so she's the youngest in her class, but she's so clever. She doesn't talk as much as she used to, but she still has a lot of stories. Her name is Asuna. Sakura - my wife - named her." After all these months, speaking openly about Asuna was like releasing a flood and Sasuke felt himself caught in the web of tender, fierce love. He looked up to find Naruto listening to his every word.

"What does she look like?" Naruto asked curiously.

Sasuke took his wallet out of his pocket and withdrew the photograph he kept there. He looked at Asuna smiling in the sunshine for a long moment before passing it to Naruto who stared at it with an intensity that made Sasuke wonder what he saw.

"She looks like you," Naruto said after a moment.

"You sound surprised."

"I am," Naruto admitted. "It's hard to imagine." He glanced at the photograph again and passed it back.

"She looks more like her mother," Sasuke said, admiring at the way Asuna's hair fanned around her in the wind.

"Why did you come back here, Sasuke?" Naruto looked helpless and completely confused. "If you have a daughter, why would you want to be away from her?"

Sasuke sighed, putting the photograph away. It was harder to tell this story, because it wasn't a part of him that he wanted Naruto to see. It felt like a confession.

"I was never the best parent. I just followed what Sakura - my wife - did. She wanted a child and she was an excellent mother to Asuna. I know we were young, but...it was a good life."

"And then?"

"And then Sakura was in a car accident," Sasuke said. "And everything changed. It was like Itachi all over again. I missed her all the time; she was such a big part of my life. And taking care of Asuna was... There was so much to balance with work and - ." He took a deep breath, thinking back to those months of exhaustion and going through the motions. "It was a big responsibility and I wasn't ready for it. Eventually I asked my parents to take care of Asuna for a while. She loves them and she just thought it was like a holiday."

"How did you end up back in Japan?"

"Time passed and I didn't change," Sasuke said. "I knew I needed to take responsibility for Asuna and get over myself but I just couldn't. It was like I was stuck." He ran a hand through his hair, thinking about all the bad choices and all the things he could have done instead. "My parents remembered that coming here had helped me get over Itachi's death, and they thought it could help again."

They sat in silence for a while. Sasuke felt raw and exposed, but it was better too. Even though there was a distance between them, he felt that there was a closeness that came from being honest.

"My parents were right," Sasuke said finally. "Coming here has helped me a lot. It's like all that time I was just sleepwalking through life. When I came here, I woke up." He looked across the hospital corridor without really seeing. "It was nice to just relax and pretend that things were like they used to be. Sometimes I even thought Asuna was better off without me."

"I think I know what you're going to say," Naruto said with a funny little smile that somehow looked so sad. Sasuke nodded slowly.

"Asuna needs me to be there. I need to be there."

"I know you're right," Naruto said. "But leaving you again is gonna suck."

Sasuke laughed bitterly. "Yeah. It really will."

* * *

**AN: **I'm kind of anxious about this chapter. I hope I did it justice! I guess I'm anxious because if you have questions at this point, I've messed something up ;-;. Thank you again for the great reviews I've been getting. It's made posting this worthwhile.


	10. Chapter 10

**Roots and Seeds**

Looking at his closed suitcase, Sasuke couldn't help remember that cold autumn morning that he had packed his things from the old house and sealed them into a regiment of cardboard boxes. They were sitting in his parents' house now, waiting patiently for him to return.

Kimimaro and his friends had left two days ago to continue traveling through Asia. Shikamaru and Kurenai had also returned home as soon as the hospital discharged them. As they had expected, Juugo was being deported and his home country would deal with his potential sentence and treatment. Suigetsu and Karin were taking the _Shinkansen_ to Tokyo in the afternoon and flying from there so they would get home before him to offer support. Sasuke had already said goodbye to Kakashi and his flight was the evening of the next day. He planned to take the nightbus to Narita, finishing his trip the way it started.

As a result of everyone leaving, the bunkroom was almost unrecognisable compared to a few days ago. All the clothes, bags and souvenirs that had become familiar scenery were gone, and the room looked gutted and anonymous. Only Inari's bunk was still occupied and his manga and novelty alarm clock looked lonely tucked away in the corner. Seeing it made Sasuke feel less guilty about leaving Naruto. At least he wouldn't be completely on his own.

Of course, Sasuke reminded himself, Naruto would only be lonely until the next batch of lodgers arrived.

Suigetsu was taking a last look at the fields behind the farm. In the afternoon sun it was unbearably humid and Sasuke's tshirt was sticking to him by the time he was halfway across.

"It's too bad," Suigetsu said when Sasuke caught up to him. "We put in all that work for the last three months, and we won't even get to see the harvest."

"Yeah, but we'll know we helped make it," Sasuke said, shielding his eyes with a hand.

"I guess so. Would have been nice to eat it, though."

"True."

Suigetsu gave him a sidelong glance. "You probably heard about me and Karin?" Sasuke nodded and he carried on. "I thought we should take a break."

"In Kyoto, you said..."

"I know." Suigetsu grinned, though it seemed forced. "I was going on about getting married but..." He dropped the smile and sighed, frustrated. "When I saw her dealing with Juugo I just realised that all this time she was trying to help a friend and I couldn't see that. I was just paranoid and insecure." He looked out towards the mountains. "Someone like that isn't ready to get married. She deserves better."

"Maybe you're not ready now, but you could be someday," Sasuke offered. He immediately regretted it when Suigetsu looked at him in amused surprise.

"That's pretty romantic advice," he said, raising his eyebrows. "What happened? Don't tell me that sort of relationship you're in get a bit more serious?" Sasuke gave him a dry look. "Wow! I knew you weren't as cold as you pretend to be. So come on, tell me about this special someone."

"I think I liked it better when you were depressed."

"You can act heartless now, but I know underneath you're a real softie."

"Whatever you say."

They turned their attention back to the scenery and watched a pair of crows circle overhead and then glide across the flawless blue sky to land on the other side of the river. Eventually Suigetsu glanced at his watch and broke the comfortable silence.

"The bus to take us to the station will be arriving soon." He stretched, making a satisfied sound. "Man, I'm gonna miss this view." He put out his hand and Sasuke shook it. "Thanks, y'know. For everything. If you're ever in my neck of the woods, look me up."

Long after Suigetsu's footsteps had died away, Sasuke stayed out looking at the familiar scene. He had memories connected to almost every part of the landscape. He remembered planting rice seedlings in the flooded paddies while Inari splashed on by, hiking up through the woods wearing Itachi's boots and kissing Naruto by the river.

They had worked hard on the land and in just three months what had seen like barren earth was transformed into fields budding with produce. Despite what he'd said to Suigetsu, he felt a pang of regret at not being there to see it harvested.

In his last few hours on the farm, Sasuke took a walk. He revisited his favourite spots, looked around and tried to breathe them in. Though he'd felt the same sadness when he'd first left, this time he knew with a bone deep certainty that he wouldn't return to this place. The comforting summer sounds of crickets chirping and crows calling to each other were so real and present Sasuke could hardly believe that they would soon just be a memory. The air was heavy and the scent of heated earth soaked into every breath.

The sun set in a brilliant display. Sasuke was near the river and the setting sun turned the water a molten orange. The last few days had been dry and the water ran sluggishly, far below the banks, but Sasuke knew from experience that a couple of nights' heavy rain would change that.

As the sky darkened to a deep indigo and the stars began to appear, Sasuke finished reminiscing and found himself once more behind the bunkhouse. He found Rin resting in a the shadow of the shower block with her back against the hot bricks and spent a few minutes petting her before she tired of it and slunk back towards the main house.

Sasuke was looking out towards the inky mountains and listening to the crickets chirp when he heard footsteps on the gravel behind him and then Naruto was standing by his side.

"It's pretty beautiful, isn't it?" Naruto seemed calm as he looked out but then he turned to Sasuke, looking hopeful and a little teasing. "Do you think you'll miss it?"

"Yes." Sasuke traced the line of the mountains with his eyes, having to rely on his memory to guide him in the darkness. "I'm sure I will." He smiled at Naruto. "Last time time when I left, looking at all this made me think of Itachi. This is where I felt closest to him. Now, even though I'm sad to leave, I think of Asuna and I have something to look forward to." Sasuke tilted his head to look at the stars. "It makes a big difference."

"I wish I could meet her."

"Me too. You'd love her." Sasuke smirked. "Then again, you might be a bad influence." He had a sudden image of Naruto playing with Asuna, giving her piggyback rides and taking her to the park. He was surprised how much he wanted it.

"I wouldn't be a bad influence," Naruto groused. "You'd just be worried she would like me more." He tipped his head as he looked at Sasuke, the gentle light from the sky reflecting in his eyes. "I find it weird to picture you as a dad."

"I still find it strange sometimes," Sasuke said. He checked his watch. "My bus will be here in fifteen minutes."

"I saw that you'd packed all your things. Inari's going to be lonely."

"I think he'll be okay just hanging out with you. And a new lot of lodgers will arrive soon."

"I meant what I said," Naruto said suddenly, looking at Sasuke with a fierce gaze. "About you and me. It can't all be coincidence."

"Maybe. Maybe not. In these last three months a lot has happened." Sasuke looked at Naruto seriously. "Whenever anything went wrong, I knew I could trust you to be there. I don't think I could have done it without you."

"So what are you saying?" Naruto started to grin. "I was destined to have sex with you so you could deal better with stress?"

"I'm saying you helped me," Sasuke said simply. "I'm saying that coming here wouldn't have made any real difference if it wasn't for you."

Naruto stared at him with wide eyes, mouth open for a second before breaking into a wide smile. "Thank you, Sasuke."

Sasuke checked his watch again. "I'd better get going. The last bus will be leaving soon."

"I don't want you to go," Naruto said honestly. His expression was openly miserable.

"We managed to meet up twice," Sasuke offered. "Maybe it'll be third time lucky."

Naruto grinned at that. He pulled Sasuke in for a tight hug and a sharp, sweet kiss, then broke away. "So, not _sayonara_?"

"No," Sasuke shook his head, taking a few steps away. "_See you later?_"

"Yeah. I like that one better."

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**AN: **Thank you to everyone who is reading. I'll post the final chapter tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

**Roots and Seeds**

The journey down to Tokyo was long, but Sasuke tried to stay awake the entire time. It was his last chance to see the Japanese countryside in summer. He hadn't spent much time in the city but he still felt a connection with it. The constant buzz of activity and the incredible energy of Tokyo was a million miles away from the peaceful solitude offered by the farm, but Sasuke liked the feeling of endless possibilities it gave him.

He took the shuttle to Narita. The temperature in the city was sweltering and the short intervals he spent outside exhausted him, so the air conditioning of the airport was welcome. He bought a drink at a vending machine, smiling when he recognised a can of Naruto's melon soda and then bought that as well. He could give it to Asuna, he supposed, although she shared his preference for more subtle flavours.

Sasuke took a seat in the lounge after checking in and watched the orange numbers and letters on the departures board. It was mid-morning and by now he would usually be hard at work on the farm. It would just be Inari working today, Sasuke mused, unless Naruto decided to help him. Or was Naruto too busy organising for the next group of lodgers to arrive and making more resources covered with his stupid drawings? Sasuke hadn't told him how stupid his drawings were, he realised regretfully.

The airport wasn't busy but there were people milling around as well as staff manning the desks and cleaning. He checked his ticket and noted that the flight would be about fourteen hours. It was funny, Sasuke thought. Fourteen hours in transit and he would have completely left this life, and returned to his old one. What was so real now would become memory and then even that would fade. He wondered how Naruto had felt when he had left, and Itachi too, before that. One day he supposed, though it seemed impossible now, Asuna would be old enough to set off on her own travels, and then he'd be part of the life waiting for her back home.

It had the potential to be really, very lonely.

To divert himself from that train of thought, he started planning what he would do when he got home. First he would spend some time with Asuna. He could take her out of school for a day and they could go to the park or maybe to a zoo. They'd gone once when she was a child and she'd liked seeing all the animals. He would have to spend a bit of time with his parents to convince them he was back on track, and then see about returning to work. He'd call Naruto too.

Sasuke watched the way the sunlight came in through the open glass doors to the building, seeing Naruto in his mind's eye. He was pulled out of his musings by a loud clatter and looked over to where someone had tripped over a trolley laden with baggage, spilling it everywhere.

He couldn't help but feel amused as he watched the man stutter out an apology to the Japanese family, including a lot of bowing. It was exactly the kind of thing Naruto would do.

The half-smile on Sasuke's face froze when the man turned around and Sasuke watched him pick up all the bags and load them back onto the trolley.

"Naruto."

Sasuke felt a web of confusion descend. He had a dim awareness of abandoning his bag and moving until he was standing in front of Naruto, looking directly at him. He was completely incongruous in the bustling airport and yet Sasuke still felt a heart-stopping stab of affection when their eyes met.

He was dragged him into a painfully tight hug before he realised what was happening.

"_Naruto_?"

"I was so worried that you'd have already boarded." Naruto spoke into his shoulder, muffling the words. He hugged even tighter until Sasuke pushed at his chest, trying to move away before a rib broke.

"What are you doing here? How did you even get here? It's a twelve hour drive!"

"I took the _shinkansen_ and then the express shuttle from Tokyo," Naruto said, stepping back. Seeing him properly, Sasuke noticed he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, when they'd said goodbye on the farm.

"But why? Did something happen?"

Naruto paused for a second and then gave Sasuke a little shove that surprised him so much he stumbled back a step. "Yeah, something happened!" Sasuke winced as a few passerbys heard Naruto's voice and began to look their way. "I realised that I can't leave things like this. I want to be with you!_ Properly_."

"What."

"I thought up lots of ways to say it on the way down," Naruto said. "But the journey was actually really fast and I didn't have that much time. But..." He took a deep breath, speaking quickly as though he expected to be interrupted. "Sasuke. I can't just let you go and just hope we meet up again because what if we don't?" Naruto brushed a hand through his hair and it stuck up even more. "And yeah it's a big deal because things change and we might regret it but there's _nothing_ I would regret more than letting you get on that plane without knowing how I feel. You said I belong here, but if I learned anything in the last three months it's that the place I belong _most_ is with you."

Naruto stopped talking and just glared at him stubbornly. Sasuke realised that he was allowed to talk now.

"You rushed here on the _shinkansen_ to tell me that?"

"Well, yeah."

"Jesus." Sasuke rubbed his face. "You couldn't have called or something?"

"But by then it would have been too late," Naruto whined. From his expression, Sasuke guessed this wasn't exactly how it had played out in his head.

"This must be the most over-the-top, unnecessarily dramatic thing you've ever done."

"It's supposed to be romantic..." Naruto ducked his head and peeked at Sasuke from under his hair. "Are you angry?"

"You want to try this?" Sasuke asked instead.

"Yeah, I do," Naruto said firmly. "We're grown ups. Worst case scenario: it doesn't work. At least we know we tried. But honestly?" He gave Sasuke a confident smile. "I think it's going to work."

"Okay."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"Okay," Sasuke repeated. "You're right. Let's just... try." He shrugged and gave Naruto a light smile. "If it's going to work with anyone, it'd be you."

"Seriously? Sasuke..." Naruto blinked at him, looking lost for a second before pulling him into another bone-crushing hug.

"You did take the bullet train across the country to catch me before I get on my plane," Sasuke said, wrapping his arms around Naruto. "It would be sad to just send you away."

Naruto sighed into his shoulder. "I was worried you'd be angry about me making a scene."

"You are making a scene," Sasuke said, looking around. "Everyone is staring at the excessive display of affection between the two foreign men."

"I know what could make it worse." Naruto moved back so he could see Sasuke's smirk.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Overhead, planes droned as they took off and landed. Announcements in formal Japanese echoed through the loudspeaker and travellers from all over the world crossed paths for just a few seconds as they hurried to their destination. Public displays of affection weren't common in Japan, but if anyone in _Narita_ airport noticed two men kissing, they were polite enough to ignore it, and go on with their day.

THE END

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**AN: **And that's it! Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed this fic. I'm really glad you enjoyed it and I really enjoyed talking to you.


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